Rothbury Carriageway – Nov 2022

£14.00

Date: Sunday 6 November 2022
Start time: 10.00 am
Distance: 7 miles
Difficulty: Moderate (Hills)

Event Expired

Description

Rothbury Carriageway

RothburyCarriageway - RothburyCarriagewayRecce-7 Rothbury Carriageway

The Rothbury Carriageway walk takes in the best bits of Rothbury and provides some spectacular views over the Coquet valley.

Details

Hills: General - AscentKey2-98x27 Some hills
Distance: General - DistanceKey1-98x27 Medium distance
Grade: General - GradeKey2-98x27 Moderate (Hills)
Map: General - 332-AlnwickAmble-Map-thumb General - OL42-KielderWaterForest-Map-thumb
This walk is on OS maps 332 Alnwick & Amble and OL42 Kielder Water & Forest.  Click on map image to buy this map.
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Start

We start in the same place as for the Christmas Walk, Cowhaugh Car Park, on the South bank of the Coquet.  From here we cross the footbridge and head into the village.

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Crossing the green we wind up through Hillside, along the lanes.  Eventually, we will reach Blaeberry Hill.  No doubt this was named after the blaeberries or bilberries that grow here.

At the top of Blaeberry Hill there is a path up onto the fell and to the Carriageway Drive.

RothburyCarriageway - RothburyCarriagewayRecce-5 Rothbury Carriageway

The Carriageway

The Carriageway Drive was once part of a long drive around the Cragside Estate.  Lord Armstrong would take his visitors on the drive to show off his Estate.

RothburyCarriageway - RothburyCarriagewayRecce-12 Rothbury Carriageway

The reason Lord Armstrong brought visitors here is the reason we are here.  The views are outstanding.  The distinctive outline of Simonside can be seen across the valley and the River Coquet can be traced up the valley to its source in the Cheviots.

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As we walk round the Carriageway we come to some peculiar shapes in the moorland.  There are lots of zig-zags dug into the ground.  These are WWI practice trenches and were used to train troops in trench digging, before they were sent to war.

Primrose Cottage

We continue on, through some lovely but sparse woodland and round to Primrose Cottage.  This is a former lodge of the Cragside Estate.

The original Carriageway route is over private land, so we can’t follow it any further.  So, here we turn right and head into the woods for a short distance, before crossing a stile into open moorland.  This path takes us back towards our starting point but we will not finish here.  We will head into the beautiful Addycombe Woods.

Addycombe

Addycombe is arguably the prettiest part of the walk, especially when the rhododendrons are out.  There are incredible views over Rothbury and the surrounding area.

RothburyCarriageway - RothburyCarriagewayRecce-38 Rothbury Carriageway

We follow a winding path along another section of the Carriageway Drive.  At the end of this we arrive another gate marked private, so we take a path across fields and down towards Rothbury.

Back to Rothbury

The final stretch is along Hillside Road and then down, on a path, into Rothbury.

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Hope to see you there.

Julie and Martin x


Gallery – Rothbury Carriageway


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Location

This shows the start location for this walk.
Nearest postcode: NE65 7SH
OS Grid Reference: NU 05709 01514
What 3 Words: ///cowboys.scoop.nets
Parking: We will park in Haugh Car Park.  This is just across the footbridge, over the River Coquet, from Rothbury.  This car park is free.
Toilets: The nearest toilets are on Bridge Street, in the village.