Route Summary - Harbottle, Drake Stone, Sharperton, Holystone, Lady's Well, North Wood, Harbottle. |
A short way beyond Harbottle on the Alwinton road is a Forestry Commission car park, situated close to Harbottle Castle . From the car park we turned right down the road to pick up a footpath to our left by 'The Old Manse' which climbed through the Harbottle Crags Nature Reserve to the Drake Stone.
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The Drake Stone, the name of which is derived from the Anglo Saxon word for dragon, is Northumberland's largest isolated boulder. Here, after the climb, we stopped for a quick coffee break. We then continued on the footpath, passing through the boulders around Drake Stone, skirting to the north of Harbottle Lake . At the end of the lake the path turns sharp right through West Wood, passing the military firing range on our left from which direction the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard, before turning to the east and descending downhill with Low Alwinton Church ahead of us.
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At the road we turned left and just after crossing the River Coquet we turned right onto a public bridleway signed 'Park House and Harbottle'.
After about 1/4 mile Alwinton lime kiln could be seen on the left. Built in 1827, production ceased at this kiln in 1866 but it remains in good condition with tall, well proportioned arches.
The track passed through Ferny Wood, where we had lunch, skirted the banks of the River Coquet before picking up a lane which would have taken us into The Peels. Before reaching the Peels we took a footpath to our right which took us, across fields, down to the banks of River Coquet again.
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There was no obvious easy path across the river and after a few tentative attempts to cross at various points we decided to "go for it", some rushing across and some carefully stepping from rock to rock. The end result was the same with us all having soaking wet socks. It should be mentioned that some chickened out altogether and took the route through Fawcet Plantation. This was probably not the best option as it meant negotiating barbed wire fences, not everyone emerging unscathed. |
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After the river crossing we continued on the path to the Sharperton-Harbottle road then crossed the bridge into Sharperton where we met up with the 'splinter group'. Just before crossing the bridge, near the road junction, it is worth pausing to look at the alpacas in a field to the south of the road.
We passed through Sharperton then joined a path which crossed the Coquet again and took us into Holystone where we took a short detour to take a look at Lady's Well.
Lady's Well is a stone water tank of possible Roman date, fed by a natural spring. There is a legend that Paulinus, an early Christian missionary from Italy , converted 3000 people at the well during Easter AD627. In the medieval period, there was a convent at Holystone, which may be where the name 'Lady's Well' comes from. After visiting the well we returned to the village then followed the road west to join a path leading us to North Wood where we stopped for coffee. From here we followed the path through the wood back to the Sharperton-Harbottle road where we turned left back to the car park. |