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94 miles, 6 days, 48 pubs…
The latest addition to The Inn Way series, Mark Reid charts a circular route through the historical and fascinating Border Country, taking in the Cheviots, Coquet Valley and Northumberland’s stunning coastline. This 94 mile walk is divided into six ‘day stages’ and passes 48 Northumbrian pubs along the way. Complete with a foreword by Steve Cram.
Walk this Way
Details of the Day Stages
Stage One: Rothbury to Warkworth
Distance: 17.5 miles
Lunchtime pub: Anglers Arms, Weldon Bridge
Highest point: No significant ascents
Highlights: Anglo-Saxon Rothbury Cross, Armstrong the ‘gun-maker’, walking the Coquet Valley, Brinkburn Priory, heugh and haugh farms, old coaching inns, ancient woodland, the Great North Road, England’s finest weir, monastic remains of Guyzance, a hermit’s house and Warkworth Castle.
Stage Two: Warkworth to Embleton
Distance: 15 miles
Lunchtime pub: Red Lion at Alnmouth
Highest point: No significant ascents
Highlights: The magnificent golden strands of Warkworth, Alnmouth and Embleton, a church cut off by the tide, the old grain port of Alnmouth, a smugglers’ haven, Earl Grey’s bathing house, superb rocky coastal path, old fishing villages, Craster kippers and Dunstanburgh Castle.
Stage Three: Embleton to Bamburgh
Distance: 11 miles
Lunchtime pub: New Beadnell Towers Hotel, Beadnell
Highest point: No significant ascents
Highlights: A trio of fishing villages, 18th Century lime-kilns, nature reserves, ‘going for a kip’, the sanctuary of St Cuthbert, puffin island, a daring sea rescue, the palace of the kings of Northumbria, the birthplace of the RNLI and four magnificent golden strands.
Stage Four: Bamburgh to Wooler
Distance: 16 miles
Lunchtime pub: Apple Inn, Lucker
Highest point: 170m on Chatton Moor
Highlights: The legend of the Laidley Worm, hidden wooded burns, the Great North Road, an ornithological house, the Black Lands of Chatton Moor and the first sight of the Cheviots, a lovely Estate village, the river with two names, defensive towers, mysterious rock art, glorious views from Weetwood Moor, bloody battles and royal palaces.
Stage Five: Wooler to Alwinton
Distance: 20.5 miles
Lunchtime pub: None en route
Highest point: 385m Langlee Crags
Highlights: A wishing well, wooded burns, in the shadow of Hedgehope Hill and The Cheviot, Langlee and Housey Crags, a mystical stone circle, isolated farmsteads and ancient settlements, the beautiful Breamish Valley, the road paved with salt, a hidden fortified chapel, prehistoric hill forts and the magnificent Cheviot Hills.
Stage Six: Alwinton to Rothbury
Distance: 14 miles
Lunchtime pub: Three Wheat Heads at Thropton
Highest point: 240m on Rothbury Terraces
Highlights: Victorian limekilns, Harbottle Castle and the English Middle March, ancient oak woodland, a Roman well, relics of a nunnery, flooded gravel pits and the meandering River Coquet, fortified farms, Armstrong’s carriage drives and spectacular views from the Terraces across to the ‘sacred mountain’.
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