A Featherstone in Northumbria Walk courtesy of the Times

A couple of weeks I was reading the Times on Saturday and found that the Walk of the Week was just 50 minutes drive from us near Haltwhistle. For years and years I have hoped to do one of the Times Walks but they have never been local. We met Peter & Elizabeth at the start near Featherstone Castle and headed of on what was to be a 4 hour 9 mile walk in beautiful weather and lovely countryside. It had everything, old railways, moorland, river valleys, woods, and small villages. We only met 2 other walkers and that was near the end of the walk in a more public area at Featherstone Castle. 

Tom and Elizabeth bringing up the rear but catching up on news.  

Up on Ramshaw Fell we came upon this lovely waterfall on Park Burn

We only skirted the moorland area for a while and then dropped back down into the valley to cross the same Park Burn over this lovely bridge for walkers.  

There were loads of stiles on this walk and I told Elizabeth that I have difficulty getting my leg over these days which resulted in loads of laughter from her.  

Eventually we reached the South Tyne and followed the river for about 2 miles.

Along the bank of the Tyne we came upon these ruins of what was Camp 18, an old German Prisoner of War Camp from the 2nd World War.  

These were all that was left of the camp but you could see the concrete foundations of many nissan huts. There should have been some descriptive signs there as it looks to be a very interesting place. A couple who me met close by told us several of the internees settled in Hexham after the war as they loved the area.    

The south Tyne is gradually eating into the farmland next to it and this all road is only half the width it used to be and will soon disappear.  

Eventually we arrived at Featherstone Castle

The last section of the walk was along an old country road where we came upon a sign that the local Molecatcher has been busy. Its a long time since I have seen as many Moles on a fence. 

After the walk we headed a few miles back towards the A69 to Blenkinsopp Castle Inn where we had a very enjoyable light lunch. This has been one of our most enjoyable walks for quite a long time. The only downside is that when walking in England local farmers do not like having walkers on their land and we frequently had to divert round farms and property and on one occasion we took a wrong turning and within seconds a farmers wife was out to tell us we were on their land. If only England was like Scotland and we could walk anywhere as long as we were responsible and adhered to The Country Code.