Because it was so wet underfoot, we decided to stick to the South Tyne Trail, a well defined footpath on the route of the old railway, one stretch of which is a narrow gauge tourist route, open in summer and for Santa specials. It wasn’t so varied perhaps as some of the alternatives but there was so much wildlife that we had no regrets. In fact even this path became so boggy that we had to resort to the road at one point.
Lambley viaduct was an undoubted highlight, especially as the sun came out for the photographs and we saw our first treecreeper there. Slaggyford, where we stopped for lunch was picturesque too (but no pub unfortunately so soup in the rain!
We were able to return to the railway for the final stretch into Alston, where the Cumberland Hotel was very welcoming but the bus company seems to go out of its way to avoid passengers.
Flora and Fauna: buzzard, treecreeper, redwing, bull finch, lots of chaffinches and I think, fieldfare (didn’t get a great view unfortunately) red squirrel; rabbits – just beyond Haltwhistle they seemed to be suffering from myxomotosis. I’ve just totted up our bird sightings with two legs to go and reckon that on the nine walks to date we’ve seen at least 27 species of birds that we wouldn’t see in our garden, so perhaps 47 species in total. Not bad between August and November without going out of our way.
Transport: Our car to Haltwhistle; lift from kind schoolteachers from Alston to Hexham (We can’t stay away). Train back to Haltwhistle. Our car home. Phew!
