Pennine Way - Byrness to Bellingham (★★★★☆)

Today I am once again heading back out to complete another section of the Pennine Way - and here I will be doing the last of the sections I planned to do in the "wrong" direction (ie from North to South), as I make my way across Northumberland National Park.

The reason for this crime against consistency is a fairly simple (and mundane) one - which is that I am local enough to do this walk as a day walk, and I'd rather finish in the pleasing village of Bellingham, than by the side of the A68 - even if this does mean going the "wrong" way.

But in any case, today we start by taking the train up to Newcastle, making a fairly short and fairly expensive journey along the Metro, and then taking a fairly long but fairly cheap bus out from Haymarket to Byrness.

But as I get on the bus, and ask to be taken to Bur-ness, I instantly know I have commit my first sin of the day.

After the dazzling success of my last writeup along the Pennine Way - walking the between Bellingham and Bardon Mill - I was informed by a learned scholar (aka someone on Twitter by the name of Guinevere of Mason), that my probable pronunciation of Bellingham as Bell-ing-ham was not only wrong, but also an insult to the good people of Northumberland (I may have exaggerated here a bit).

Every area has some odd pronunciations, but the ones in Northumberland are truly daft (to the point where you wonder if they are making fun of you). But I do believe that I have found a shortcut that generally seems to work - and this is to pretend that your mouth is excessively filled with jam when pronouncing the names of places.

In doing so Bell-ing-ham quite naturally becomes Bell-in-jum, the rather posh enclave of Prud-hoe turns into the more down-market town of Pru-dda - and in one swift move, the seemingly offensive 'g', 'h' and 'eh' sounds are gone.

Byrness is a tricky one though - which would probably come out something like Bwur-nuss using the jam technique - which just sounds wrong.

And so here we must be more extreme, and imagine that our mouth is instead filled with quick-dry cement - and then we get closer to the supposedly correct pronunciation of Burns.

And with these linguistic challenges resolved, we can get on with our journey through this daftly pronounced countryside - which proves to be an excellent one, as we head out along the A68 towards Jedbergh.

It is worth noting here, that this bus is a very useful one for the committed walker - as it not only gives access to the Pennine Way, but also to St Cuthbert's Way at Jedbergh and St Oswald's Way at Kirkwhelpington.

On the way out of Newcastle, the bus has been following the old Roman route of Dere Street - but eventually leaves this ancient route at Rochester, before we alight by the Byrness Hotel.

And here the walking can finally begin - as we head out past the Church of St Francis, and as we follow a track that winds round towards the snappily named Cottonshopeburtfoot.

Church of St Francis

The church here has the appearance of a fairly old church, but it is relatively modern - dating back to 1793, and with part of it also having been rebuilt in 1884.

At the same time, the village of Byrness is a fairly modern arrival on the landscape.

The population of the local area did expand between 1884 and 1905 whilst Catcleugh Reservoir was being built - but the village of Byrness really dates back to the 1950s - when it was one of the three forestry villages founded in the area (with the other two being Kielder and Stonehaugh). The jam-in-mouth technique allows you to pronounce Stonehaugh correctly.

The church itself is most notable for a stain-glassed window - and this commemorates the 64 lives that were lost during the construction of the nearby Catcleugh Reservoir (see accompanying image) - with this window having been installed in 1903.

It would be a comfort to think that these lives were lost during a single freak incident - but the harsher reality is that conditions on all these projects were harsh, workers lived in temporary huts where disease was common, and it just wasn't that unusual for people to die working on these projects.

But these days conditions are not so harsh here - and as we close in on the nearby holiday park, we are following well-made tracks through an open break in the forest - and here all I have to deal with is a pack of dogs that are jumping up to say hello (and whilst their owner is ashamed of their behavior, I'm quite pleased to see that they came and said hello - even with their muddy paws).

And as we come up to it, we can see that holiday park is itself tastefully done - with green cabins blending into the background - and this site serves as a handy camping spot for those completing the Pennine Way.

But we soon leave it behind, as we start to follow the path of the River Rede.

Looking out towards Byrness Hill

Before long we cross over the river, and continue to follow it for a bit longer - before we pull away, and head deeper into Redesdale Forest (part of the wider Kielder Forest complex).

Personally I'm not a huge fan of forest walks (I much prefer views) - but here the walk is varied and interesting, with the quality of walk improved by the undulations of the the terrain.

Heading deeper into the forest

With decent view through cleared sections

Undulations that would make for a great rally stage

And a view out towards the Chevoit Hills behind

All this means that I'm still in a good mood by the time we eventually head out of the forest - and start to make our way over to Brownrigg Head.

Starting to leave the forest

By this point it has all been going rather well - the tracks have been nice to walk along, the views have been good - and it is starting to feel like a trap, because I know that a day on the Pennine Way is never this pleasant and enjoyable.

And there is a reason that I feel this way - because this part of the world is naturally very boggy, and as we start to head out of the trees the risk of reaching boggier ground will substantially increase.

For now though, these fears are unfounded as we head towards - and reach - Brownrigg Head.

Rather pleasant up here

View out to the left of Padon Hill

And now heading towards Padon Hill

Once beyond Brownrigg Head, we continue on, and aim slightly to the right of Padon Hill - before we eventually find the section where the piper must be paid - for here the path becomes a stream, with slippery mud coating what are mostly solid, but also occasionally lose, rocks.

This makes for a very slow descent down off Brownrigg Head - but it is not a long descent and so with a bit of a patience it is really not too bad - before we have to cross a very boggy section, ahead of our climb back up the far side.

At the base, I meet my second Pennine Wayer of the day - and find that it is much drier on the way back up the far ridge.

On the map it does look like you can divert off to visit the monument - although I see no such option on the ground - and instead pass by Padon Hill, still following the route of the Pennine Way.

Looking back from Padon Hill

Soon we are descending once again though - and from here it is an enjoyable descent down to meet up with a very minor road.

On the way down from Padon Hill

With lovely views out to the side

And on down to the road

Once over this road - the path continues on the far side, where it bends round to Whitley Pike.

Whitley Pike

There is supposed to be rock art near here - although not much is know about it, and I couldn't see where they are on my way through - but some have gone out to hunt for it, and found rocks with circles cut into them.

Rock Art - Source: Modern Antiquarian

The site of these is supposed to be to the west of the Pennine Way - but whilst they are thought to be too neat to be genuine ancient rock art, they are certainty an unusual sight.

Having made our way past Whitley Pike, we may as well throw our maps away for the time being (don't actually do this) - for the next section of the path clearly heads further down the ridge than it does on the map.

At this point, I am sure here that I have not missed a turning (and gone down a wrong path) - and so for now I just stick with it so long as it goes roughly in the right direction, as the footsteps head down to a handy crossing of a stream - before heading back towards the official route of the trail via a very boggy section.

For now following footsteps and hoping for the best

And indeed there has been no need to worry - for after this diversion we do eventually rejoin the official trail - and here it is clear that the original route no longer exists in any shape or form. And so we did indeed do the right thing by going with the flow, following the footsteps, and accepting that the map is not always updated as well as it could be.

This sort of thing happens a few times on the Pennine Way - and given that the trail markers have all been updated to reflect the new route, I do wonder why it takes so long for Ordinance Survey to do the same thing - particularly in the age of digital maps.

But given that we are still waiting on them to update the maps with the Coast to Coast National Trail (via it's usual diamond marked path), I don't think you should expect to see these diversions get updated very soon.

In any case, now that we are back on the official route, we continue on past Lough Shaw - and prepare to drop down to cross over another road through the hills.

Over by Lough Shaw

Once over the road, we head up the far side, and stop for a bit of a rest below Abbey Rigg. And with this rest over, we start to make our way round this new ridge - passing by Hareshaw House on the far side.

Greening up on the far side of the ridge

From here we cut across towards Callerhues Crag - but here the creators of the trail have managed to resist the urge to take on another hill - and instead our path runs along the side of the ridge.

Callerhues Crag

Having turned to the right to do exactly this, we now have a massive bog to cross - and here I catch up with my third (and it turned out to be final) Pennine Wayer of the day - with this one heading north to south.

Today's count of people doing the Pennine Way has been particularly low. I'm not sure if this is down to a dip in the number of people walking it at this particular point of the year (my biggest count was during half term), or whether this is just down to attrition as people step off the trail mid way. But in any case - it is clear that the trail is not being well trod today.

Here my fellow walker is a camper - and so the going is much easier for me across this terrain - and with a desire to reach Bellingham in time to visit the shop (and be in time for the onward bus), I soon leave them behind. 

But in any case there is plenty of company across this stretch of countryside in the form of the sheep, which madly panic as I walk by - as I make my way towards Blakelaw.

And from here the rest of the walking is done via the farm drive, and then along minor roads - and sooner than expected I've made my way to the shop, and back up to the Heritage Centre, ready to start my journey home.

Waiting for the bus at the old station

From here the bus takes me on towards Hexham train station - after which I can swap to train for the rest of my journey - and it turns out to have been a very easy trip out and back for this walk.

Overall I had expected this day to be more like the adjoining one between Bellingham and Bardon Mill - which was dominated by a very forgettable sections ahead of my arrival at Hadrian's Wall. Instead this has been a more enjoyable day of walking than I had expected, and the views of the Cheviot Hills have also created a lot of excitement for that next stage of the trail as well.

Total Distance: 14.7 miles

Total Ascent: 1,490 feet

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 80 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Pennine Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked - just bear in mind that it goes off the official route between Whitley Pike and Lough Shaw