POSTED JULY 2009
The Crown Walking Club account of their walk around The Inn Way to Northumberland. Read More

POSTED MAY 2009

"My mate & I did the Northumberland Inn Way over Easter. The weather was absolutely superb all week, which made walking up the coast a fantastic experience. We started off from the train station Almouth, set off in glorious sunshine, and then found ourselves in a pub within the first 15 minutes - well it was The Inn Way, and it was a long train journey!

Day 1 Almouth to Embleton:
Highlights – Fantastic weather, Red Lion at Almouth (having walked a mile to this point we were ready for a pint), the coastal views and the beach walking, Greys Inn at Embleton – excellent food, sky sports, range of beers and friendly people.
Surprise of the day – the seemingly never-ending uphill lane into Embleton!

Day 2 Embleton to Bamburgh:
Highlights – Great weather again, Olde Ship Hotel at Seahouses (could have stayed there all afternoon!), the kippers, the coastal views, the amazing Bamburgh Castle, excellent food at the Castle Hotel (they weren’t just ‘ordinary’ sausages!). Great accommodation at the Sunningdale Hotel & friendly people yet again.
Surprise of the day – must be the coastal air as lights were out for 21:00hrs (what a waste of good Inn Way drinking time!)

Day 3 Bamburgh to Wooler:
Highlights – Change to inland scenery and some great views, the White Swan at Warenford, the run up into Chatton to get there before closing time at 3.pm, to find it open all day!
Surprise of the day – Being told off my Mr Angry Farmer, despite being on the correct path through his field, the steep climb up into Wooler, and the ‘interesting’ (shall we say) Wooler itself.

Day 4 Wooler to Alwinton:
Highlights – No doubt about it – reaching Alwinton! This was a long day, where we became ‘mis-directed’ and lost time (in the moorland area just after the Dod). I don’t remember an ice-cold pint of Strongbow taste so good! Reaching the Rose and Thistle may just have been the highlight of the whole 6 days - great hospitality, very friendly locals – we had a great laugh with them along with the fantastic owner Gareth. They served us a dinner even after they’d finished cooking for the day. If you do this route then don’t stay anywhere else in Alwinton other than this great pub.
Surprise of the day – Getting a bit lost, some steep ascents particularly from Langlee (to say the least!), and finding out I could down a pint in 15 seconds flat at the end of a long walk.

Day 5 Alwinton to Rothbury:
Highlights – Some great views along the way, walking through forests, glorious weather again, the fantastic rear beer garden and views of The Three Wheat Heads at Thropton – a great place to take your boots off for a while.
Surprise of the day – After a long tiring walk, finding our bedroom in the Queen’s head was on the very top floor (what had we done wrong to deserve that!)

Day 6 Rothbury to Warkworth:
Highlights – Anglers Arms at Weldon Bridge in the sunshine, the sight of long queuing Bank Holiday traffic on the A1 as I walked leisurely beneath it, great varied walking terrain and the sight of Warkworth Castle after a long day.
If you want to stay in the best B&B in Warkworth, then look up Morwick House.
Hospitality was second to none, served tea, biscuits and strawberries on arrival, 5* luxury room, and a fantastic breakfast. We were even given a lift to the Station to catch the train home. Don’t stay overnight in a Warkworth pub, stay at Morwick House.
Surprise of the day – Inn Way Completed!

Overall this was a fantastic walk, although blisters became an irritant due to hard ground after lots of dry weather (but it’s hard to complain about that). Some very friendly Northumberland people made the week an even greater experience.And if you don’t think a pint of Strongbow can really be that pleasurable, then do the walk from Wooler to Alwinton and then tell me I’m wrong! "

POSTED SEPTEMBER 2008
"Just finished The Inn Way to Northumberland, excellent and varied route thank you. Used train to get to and from Alnmouth so started/finished the walk there which worked really well and saved us worrying about car parking. We would have preferred the book to have the maps next to the instructions as we were frequently taking the book out of map case to swap between the 2 sets of information, a minor comment as the instructions were great. We had a couple of problems going into Warkworth which extended the day quite a bit. The final bridge into Warkworth has been destroyed by the recent floods and the ford is not passable, don't think the bridge will be replaced very quickly and there was no advance warning. Also the small footbridge before Felton is down again due to flooding but there is a diversion sign just before you get to it. In all I reckon we added at least 4 miles to the day. I can't see either bridge being high on the local authorities priorities for replacement. Not sure what, if anything, you can do to assist future walkers but a "current information" section on your website might be useful."

POSTED AUGUST 2008
"Full details of our walk can be found at http://northumberlandinnway.blogspot.com/"

Posted May 2007
"I had a great time, the weather was mostly kind to me & I did not stray from the route apart from 1 or 2 minor detours. It was a great time of year to do the walk as the countryside was so green & the fields full of lambs. I found the 4rth day the hardest walking from Bamburgh to Wooler, I think my energy levels were low that day & a lot of the early part of the route was across fields rather than on footpaths. Stayed B&B en route with the last 2 days at Clennell Hall. The end of my walk co-incided with the music festival at Clennell which unfortunately was a bit of a washout - it seemed to start raining as soon as I finished! The walk across from Wooler to Alwinton was fantastic - just me & sheep/lambs all day. We ate in the Rose & Thistle on the Thursday & had a good chat with Gareth - I had the InnWay book in my hand so he knew what I was about - he sends his best regards & is wondering when you are going to visit again."

Posted September 2006
Have just completed the Inn Way... to Northumberland. The walk is outstanding with just a couple of paths overgrown with gorse etc. The Rose & Thistle Inn at Alwinton is by far & away the best accommodation I have had in all the long distance walks I have completed. We managed to hit 24 out of the 48 pubs listed and all made us very welcome and along with the very friendly people we met and the landscape we walked through will ensure that this is one walk that will remain a very happy memory. The guide book is superb and was easily followed along with the map on the long day in the Cheviots. Thanks for the guide and I look forward to the Inn Way... to the Peak District.

Posted August 2006
Our party of ten, 60+ year old walkers have just completed The Inn Way to Northumberland over a period of 8 consecutive walking days from the 1st to 9th August 2006. We were fortunate that the hot weather had broken, giving us fresher conditions.  There were one and a half days of rain. Not bad for an English summer. We stayed in B&B accommodation in Alnmouth for the duration and had the support of a minibus. This enabled us to work out our own itinerary, as some of the days were longer than we wanted. Day 1. Travelled up from Lincoln to Rothbury to walk 6 miles to Weldon Bridge as a ‘running in’ session.  Not long into the walk we encountered a 1&Mac218;2 mile stretch along the river Coquet of dense bracken which had not been walked for some time.  Forcing our way through this slowed us down. A scythe would have been useful. Day 2 - Weldon Bridge to Warkworth. This was a wet day, but the rain was not too heavy as to mar the views.  We found the walking easy, but the day slightly challenging.  Drying out was a major concern.  The B&Bs were magnificent for drying us out. Day 3 - Warkworth to High Newton. This was an excellent day with bright sun and a refreshing sea breeze. We did some beach walking which gave us a lift after the previous day. The scenery was wonderful and the sea Mediterranean blue. Day 4 - High Newton to Bamburgh to Lucker. By comparison, a different type of coastline to Day 3, but a bright day without the breezes.  Bamburgh was the original destination but time permitted us to continue on to Lucker.  This helped by reducing the next day’s 16 miles to 14.  Day 5 - Lucker to Wooler. The first fields from the mill were fine, but the half mile stretch near the fort was so overgrown with gorse, bramble nettles and bracken that a machete would have been useful.  No one came through that unscathed, and some first aid was the order of the day! The rest of the route into Wooler was relatively uneventful, but interesting as the change in the scenery from the coast was refreshing. Day 6 - Wooler to Greensidehill. This was the first of two days in the foothills of the Cheviots. The weather was bright and sunny and the ascent exhilarating. We stopped for lunch at the Black Hut where it started to drizzle. On moving on we sheltered in the open barn at Threestoneburn House to put waterproofs on.  These we needed to Greensidehill and the minibus. Day 7 - Greensidehill to Harbottle. Most of the waymarker posts had been knocked down by the vandal sheep!  The notes were helpful here, and we did find most of the fallen posts. Again a brighter day which helped. We decided that we would not like to live at Ewartly Shank. It’s too remote.  On to Alwinton and Harbottle. Pretty places. Day 8 - Harbottle to Rothbury. An indifferent day of weather, but a gentle way to end the walk with the last effort up on Rothbury Terraces, with the final views back, then return to the starting point at the memorial. A good and challenging walk in the spirit of the other Inn Way walks.  Perhaps the peak district next?

Posted July 2005
We enjoyed your Northumberland route just as much as we enjoyed the Yorkshire Dales, Lake District & North York Moors ones! No doubt we will return to the Rose and Thistle at Alwinton as it was the best place we stayed in on The Inn Way and it gave us an introduction to the Cheviots which we hadn’t walked in before.  We also had a really good night in Wooler at the Black Bull which had excellent beer and a really good karaoke night when we were there – extreme self control had to be exercised to ensure that we didn’t drink too much of the ale so that we could walk to Alwinton the day after!! Looking forward to the Peak District Inn Way and speculating that the one after that may be Snowdonia?!!

Posted May 2005
"Another splendid Inn Way (to date - Yorkshire Dales & North York Moors) this must probably rate as the best.
We put in an extra day so to could cut the miles down a bit, but couldn't avoid the 20.5 miler. We decided to get this out of the way and started from Wooler. Highlights of the walk for our gang -"ABCD on Tour" (Alan, Bill, Christine & Denis – total age 240+) - Craster kippers for breakfast, Farne Island bitter, B&B at Budle Hall (what a place), having to seek refuge from the rain (for three of the days) in 32 pubs and even B&B in 3 of em. Memories - lots of mud, swollen rivers and side streams, miles of deserted golden sands, very friendly people, good beer, comfy beds (no Youth Hostels this time). All in all another excellent 'Inn Way'."

Posted April 2004
"Completed the Inn Way to Northumberland in April 2004 (our fifth Inn Way route - having done the Lakes route twice, in either direction, and the Yorkshire routes once). Although we walked the route before the guidebook was available, your help and assistance in planning the route proved invaluable. The overnight stops and 'essential pub stops' you recommended all proved to be top drawer! Having now received the guidebook, it just goes to prove how similar us beer-drinking walkers (or joggers in our case) view the OS maps - the route I plotted almost matched your recommended route (including using the beach for most of the coastal section.





Highlights for me were - Anglers Arms, Weldon Bridge; Northumberland Arms, Felton; Warkworth House Hotel (if you'd like to feel like you're in an episode of Fawlty Towers!); Hermitage Inn, Warkworth (excellent food); Jolly Fisherman, Craster (try the crab soup & sandwiches); Ship Inn, Low Newton (fabulous setting and great beer - we managed to kill 2 hours here!); Olde Ship Hotel, Seahouses (the only good reason for visiting Seahouses); Bamburgh - all 4 pubs are good (if a little pricey); Apple Inn, Lucker (try the pies!); Percy Arms Hotel, Chatton (very friendly village pub - watch the world go by (slowly!) from the beer garden; Tankerville Arms, Wooler (excellent food - very busy at weekends); Rose & Thistle, Alwinton (ignore the basic feel/decor and head for the beer garden). Other highlights: Brinkburn Priory - 180o helicopter views of this magnificent building; Warkworth - wonderful place; Beaches - must be among the very best in the country; Wooler to Alwinton - very varied scenery and terrain - excellent day out (even without the benefit of a pub!); Caistron Nature Reserve - excellent variety of bird-life (though after rain, expect muddy conditions near here); Thropton to Rothbury - a fabulous finale to the Inn Way (correction, make the Railway Hotel beer garden your finale!).

Hope you enjoy the Inn Way to Northumberland as much as we did. "