The weather may have been clear and sunny but the ground was boggy underfoot and it was very windy.
Set in a beautiful valley, Edlingham is a remote moorland village but it has some very interesting relics: a tiny Norman church, a 12th-century peel-tower, a 13th-century castle, and a five-arched bridge of what used to be the Alnwick-Coldstream Railway.
In the middle of the 12th century, John de Edlingham built a two storey house near the burn and the defences at that time included a moat fed from local springs. In 1296 Sir William de Felton fortified the house by means of a strong palisade inside the moat with a gatehouse on the north side. Over the years the building was improved and the defences further strengthened by a gate tower. From about 1400 the house was referred to as a castle.
Over the intervening years up to the present time the need for defences steadily abated and farming became of greater importance, with the ground floor rooms converted into barns and housing for animals. Decay set in and the castle was abandoned in 1650.
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We walked towards the 11th century Saint John the Baptist Church turning left onto a path before reaching the church. The path took us across the remains of the dismantled Alnwick-Coldstream railway, then uphill to Overthwarts farm. We passed to the right of the farm to join a track which took us to a minor road with Lemmington Wood ahead of us.
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After crossing the road to rejoin the path we pondered for a bit, the path looking very overgrown and boggy, but we continued on keeping to the left of the wood before entering the field to our left. We continued on, a large imposing 'fake' castle on Lemmington Branch coming into view on the hill up ahead.
When we reached a minor road on Lemmington Bank we turned left then left again at the next turn off onto a lane leading to Lemmington Hall (built 1415-1450) and Lemmington Mill. After passing Lemmington Hall (and before reaching the mill) the lane became more of a track and we soon joined a footpath to our left. We skirted the hillside then joined a bridleway down towards Edlingham Burn. The burn looked impassable and the area was very overgrown so we decided to stop for lunch while we considered our options.
We decided to leave the path and skirt the edge of the wood to cross the stream using a bridge a little to the east of us. There were many shotgun cartridges scattered about and we, not entirely jokingly, wondered if the farmer was in the habit of firing on trespassers!
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The bridge itself was very flimsy with no handrails except for a feeble cable loosely draped across the stream - a rickedly affair. Connie was nervous about using the bridge but she bravely persevered with Ken and Mick's help. Connie was worried what would happen if Ken fell but he assured her that he wouldn't let go of her - this didn't seem to reassure her!
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We now rejoined the bridleway again crossing the dismantled railway through to Hill Head Farm. We continued on this path but our plan to cross Coe Burn was thwarted (no bridge and burn too deep) so we joined a path taking the route of the Devil's Causeway, across a minor road, the path skirting the edge of Birsley Wood back to Edlingham.
Bernard seemed to be in a hurry to get to the pub first but his car got stuck in the mud. It needed a good push. Ken volunteered and Bernard kindly pushed on the accelerator just enough to reward Ken with a load of mud in his face. Steve thought this was hilarious!
Then it was off to Longhorsley for our usual refreshments. |
