Thockrington Loop

Available at Amazon

Date: Friday 15th October 2010
Distance: 4.75 miles
Time needed: 1.5-2 hrs
Refreshments: Queens Head Inn, Great Whittington
Start: on the B6342 near Fell House - just NW of Hallington reservoir.
Maps needed: OS Explorer OL43
Route description: Taken from the fabulous 'Walking in the Northumberland Dales' book, p89

This walk takes you through farmland and along lanes. Thockrington is fascinating and has an interesting tale to tell...

A good start for our moonwalk training! 6 of us managed to meet up for this one after the lovely Harvest Festival at the First School.

The walk leads up to Thockrington Church. It stands alone - the only building left of Thockrington village which was destroyed after all the villagers were wiped out by 'the plague' - kindly brought home by a sailor from the Crimean War.

We had a little look inside, found the grave of Lord Beveridge - the architect of the National Health Service - then stopped briefly for a sip of coffee as the wind started to whip up and the drizzle swirled around.

My camera batteries were flat, but phone technology stepped in, and we managed a couple of photos - just as the cold started seeping through to our bones!

We managed to walk back to the road without getting trampled and killed by a field full of cows - but one or 2 of us were a little unsure that we would ever see our families again!

A really pleasant walk with a bit of history attached to it. Oh - and the hot beef bap and chips were delicious from the Queen's Head too!

The Great Whittington Lime Kiln Loop

Distance: 6 miles
Time needed: 2-3 hours
Refreshments: The Queen's Head Inn in Great Whittington (delicious grub but check opening times!)
Start: Great Whittington (A few miles north of Corbridge)
Finish: Great Whittington
Maps needed: OS maps OL43 and a bit of 316 (click on the hand drawn map on the right for the route)

This walk is actually an old favourite of mine, and I took a couple of pals on it with me last week. My 9 year old son managed it one day too - but I was glad I had a packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate in my bag to help us up the very steep climb. Glorious views from the top - worth the effort!