Valerie Holmes

We decided to take a “high route” to Wooler instead of the traditional St Cuthbert’s Way route. It turned out to be a tough day with the poor trail conditions and long distance and elevation changes. Much of the route was over peat bog and the trail was quite wet and muddy with all the rain. We had to figure out our path carefully around the bogs. We had nice weather with no rain and tremendous views of the Scottish border country. It was slow going though. We had lunch at a shelter hut on the way up the mountain. We eventually reached the top of Cheviot mountain which is the highest mountain in northern England at 815 meters. The summit path is all flagged with stones which helped for a bit, until the stones stopped. On the way down we struggled to find the route in all the mud and took a shortcut down to a road. From there we walked on the road to Wooler. Everyone had wet, sore feet and tired legs walking along the road for two hours. When we got to Wooler, we checked in to our B&B and then went for dinner and drinks. It was a long day of around 30 km distance and 9 hours waking.Read more