Northumberland

OVERVIEW

Northumberland National Park is a fairly small stretch of countryside in the very north of England, but for walking purposes I am here taking a wider Northumberland area that covers an area north of Hadrian's Wall and extending to the Northumberland Coast.

This results in an area that is very pretty, and which includes a lot of good walking - but which can be often be overlooked by people who instead focus on more popular areas.

But here I have considered the area to be interesting enough to get it's own little section on this website - mostly because there are enough walking trails that cross this area of countryside.

This area probably hits it's peak as you get up to the very north, and start getting into the Cheviot Hills, but the area around Hadrian's Wall has some excellent walking as well.

The area specifically designated as a National Park

GETTING ABOUT

Along the base of this area there is a train line that runs between Carlisle and Newcastle, and follwoing the route of Hadrian's Wall - whilst the East Coast Mainline runs up along the Northumberland coast.

Beyond this access is possible by bus, and this is most easily done along the main roads heading out from Newcastle - or by taking services up from either Haltwhistle or Hexham.

These services can be infrequent, but are very usable.

NOTABLE WALKING ROUTES

The major walking routes are Hadrian's Wall Path, the Northumberland Coast Path, and the Pennine Way. These (and other notable walks) are detailed below:

Hadrian's Wall Path - National Trail

The Hadrian's Wall Path runs along the very base of Northumberland - and briefly cuts inside Northumberland National Park on the section between Greenhead and to the north of Hayden Bridge.

This trail offers some lovely walking, with great views out to the north - and for obvious reasons, carries with it a certain amount of historic interest.

Northumberland Coast Path - National Trail

The Northumberland Coast Path forms part of the Northumberland Coast National Landscape - which sits separate from the Northumberland National Park (which lies some distance away to the west).

But this is an exceptional stretch of coast that features a lot of sand dunes - and a lot of easy walking through pretty seaside villages.

Along the way there are plenty of castles and sites of historical interest such as Lindisfarne - and dolphins and orcas have been fairly regularly spotted along this stretch of coast.

Pennine Way - National Trail

The most northerly section of the Pennine Way initially follows the same route as the Hadrian's Wall Path heading east out of Greenhead - before cutting up through (and along the edge of) Northumberland National Park to Bellingham.

From Bellingham the path then runs more centrally through the middle of the National Park, before tracking the western end of the National Park from Byrness (as it also runs along the England-Scotland border) to Kirk Yetholm. On this final stretch it also heads through the very pretty landscape of the Cheviot Hills (and possibly the best part of Northumberland).

River Tyne Trail North - Named Trail

The River Tyne Trail North heads up from near Hexham through Northumberland and on past Kielder Water.

This trail is a slight logistical challenge if followed using public transport - but it is possible to get up to Kielder by bus from Bellingham (which in turn is reached by bus from Hexham). So far I haven't considered this trial to be worth the effort, but it does pass directly through Northumberland.

St Cuthbert's Way - Named Trail

St Cuthbert's Way runs through both the Scottish Borders - and across Northumberland. 

I do currently have plans to walk the western end of the trail through Scotland, but have not yet decided to do the eastern end through Northumberland. 

However, I do suspect that once I have done the western end, the eastern end will magically start to move it's way up my list of planned walks.

St Oswald's Way - Named Trail

I have by now planned out sections for St Oswald's Way - and have walked the coastal sections of this trail whilst doing the Northumberland Coast Path.

Logistically it looks fairly doable, given that there are bus services that run up from Newcastle - and so it is currently a question of whether it is worth doing or not.

At this point it is not on the planned list of walks I intend to do, but as it would be easy day sections from where I live I may give it a go when I want an easy walk without travelling too far a distance.

Looking at the writeups that others have done of the walk, I'm not entirely sure how exciting a walk it is, but it covers that western end of Northumberland quite nicely.