Not Allenbanks But Hadrian’s Wall

Anither michty scheme gan aglay.

We’d set off hopefully from Dawn’s Dockside Den for Allendale, in particular the Very Lovely Allenbanks – a long and deep wooded glen just a bit to the left of Hexham. But it seems that the stormy winter has done for the paths in Allenbanks and it’s closed to the public for Health and Safety reasons. There was a barricade. We couldn’t get in.

So, not feeling specially adventurous in terms of an unwillingness to tackle tracks teetering on brinks of enormous and loose drops over deep and rushing (and cold) water,  we decided to have a ramble around Hadrian’s Wall, which isn’t really all that far away and appears on the same Ordnance Survey map, thus saving any chance of getting lost, or, at least, reducing those chances fairly significantly.

So we went to Peel Crags car park which hovers above Twice Brewed and gives immediate access to the parts of Hadrian’s Wall which march over some of the more bumpy and craggy bits.

We rambled for a few miles in a generally Eastern direction. The sun shone brightly and the light breeze from somewhere around Greenland insinuated itself into our thermals whilst the muddy path was frozen solid and made easier and cleaner than would otherwise be. In fact, we followed the Pennine Way and persisted with this strategy when it veered North away from the wall in the rough direction of Bellingham in favour of some bogs which weren’t properly frozen and provided an awkward obstacle.

And then, after getting our feet wet, we turned West,  following the very same pastures that the Wednesday Walkers Walking on Saturdays group had followed last summer… or whenever it was.

Second lunches were enjoyed in the bird hide at Greenlee Lough. It was warm inside the hide, but despite this, no birds were found hiding in there. It’s not surprising, really, since previous visitors had secured the door.

We continued over the moss crossed on extensive duck-boards and finally, through pastures containing friendly tups and Highland cattle to the road back to the start.

On the way back to The Docks, we bagged the minor, almost road-side Tump of Harlow Hill, the most interesting aspect of which was a Tawny Owl, quartering the woods and the bunkers for innatentive mice.

I measured this jaunt as 8 miles. Dawn said it was ten. Dunno why there’s a difference….

Here’s a map: