The Northumberland National Park begins near
the Scottish Border and snakes southward to the
earlier border marked by Hadrian’sWall. It passes
through several geological zones, each with its own
landforms, vegetation and scenery.There are the
volcanic rocks of the Cheviot Hills in the north, the
fell sandstones of the heather-clad central hills, the
limestone of the carboniferous era and the dolerite
of the GreatWhin Sill, the crags of which line the
southern boundary.
Rocks are carved with secret graffiti of the Stone
Age, the Bronze and Iron Ages left burial mounds
and hill forts, Roman roads and forts extend far to
the north of Hadrian’s Wall and castles recall five
centuries of border conflict that followed the
Norman Conquest.
Yet the legacy of this remarkable
history is one of the most stunningly beautiful
regions of Britain. Most of the walks, of between
2 and 8½ miles, are suitable for families and groups
of friends, and follow public rights-of-way, across
high, wild and lonely moorland, where the sky is
wide and the loudest sounds are the hiss of wind,
the babble of water and the distant calls of skylark,
lapwing and curlew.
The ten walks are:
Great Hetha; The Cheviot; Dunmoor Hill and Linhope Spout; Chew Green
and Brownhart Law; Copper Snout and Usway
Burn; Harbottle and the Drakestone; Darden
Lough; Troughend Common; Bellcrag Flow;
Broomlee Lough and the Hidden Loughs.
Halsgrove’s small-format guidebook, containing
maps, photographs and useful information
will ensure a great walking experience. Packed with
colour, the book is an ideal reminder of
a visit to the area.
Anthony Toole lives in Newcastle upon
Tyne, and spends much of his time
walking in and writing about the hills
of the north-east. He contributes walk
descriptions regularly to BBC Countryfile
Magazine and also contributed to the
AA publication, 50 Walks in Durham
and Northumberland. He writes outdoor
features for The Northumbrian, The
Countryman and North-East Life
magazines. He is a prizewinning member
of Outdoor Writers’ and Photographers’
Guild and Writers and Photographers
Unlimited. He has also written A Boot
Up the Durham Dales and A Boot Up
the Northumberland Coast, also for
Halsgrove.
Imprint: PiXZ Books. ISBN 978 0 85710 034 4, hardback, 110x155mm, 64 pages. Published March 2011.
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