The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

Cribyn & N escarpment

from Pen y Fan

92 The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

track. Slowly it turned its
head towards me and then,
as quickly as it had arrived, it
disappeared back into the trees,
white rump rising and falling
with each efortless bound.
Soon I was out of the forest
again and wandering past the
farm of Trowupburn, nestling
beneath a trio of rounded hills,
its white walls dazzling in the
bright sunlight. Splashing
my boots through a shallow
ford, I made my way into
Trowupburn Hope, a
shepherd’s quad track criss-
crossing the burn on its bumpy
journey upstream. his superb
secluded valley is not named
on any map of the area and is
little-visited. It is all the better
for that. Tiny lambs sheltered
behind protective mothers.
Eventually, halfway up the
valley, I reached the circular
stone sheep stell marking my

point of departure to higher

ground. I intended to explore

the course of a nameless

burn, set in a deep side valley,

which has its source high on

Black Hag. But irst a banana

break, and then I began the

steep climb up the adjacent

grass-covered spur, the useful

twin tracks of a shepherd’s

quad bike leading the way. As

the gradient began to ease, I

wandered slightly of-course,

eager to get a closer look into

the deep clet.

I continued uphill, picking

my way between swathes of

winter-lattened bracken,

searching for an easy crossing

of the burn. Once across,

I followed an intermittent

sheep trace through patches

of heather and clumps of

semi-dry sphagnum moss,

the tiny leaves of wild bilberry

beginning to peep through

a tangle of hillside grasses.

Finally, I reached the highest

point of my walk and the start

of the long, spacious descent

of Blackhaggs Rigg, broken

only by a lazy sandwich break

overlooking the Lambden and

College Valleys. Hazy views of

the north side of he Cheviot

provided a dramatic backcloth.

It would have been easy to

follow the lightly-used road

back to my starting point, a

picturesque and relaxing 2km

end to the day. But that’s not

my style; so, ater little more

than 350 metres of tarmac, I

let the road and started the

climb up Sinkside Hill. It was

to be another delightful up-

and-down 60 minutes before

my boots once again touched

the valley road, bringing to

an end a fabulous trip into the

hills. he day could not have

been better.

Further information

Maps: OS 1:25,000

Explorer sheet OL16

(The Cheviot Hills)

Transport: None to

the start

i

Information: Wooler

TIC, Glendale Centre,

Wooler 01668 282123 and

northumberlandnational park.

org.uk

[Captions clockwise from top]

Trowupburn; Descending

Blackhaggs Rigg; The College

and Lambden Valleys