Pennine Way: Alston to Greenhead

Sunday 21st April 2019

When I walked part of the Pennine Way in 2009, from Gargrave to Haltwhistle, on the last day I came off the Pennine Way half way between Alston and Haltwhistle. Ever since then, I have wanted to return so I could complete the Pennine Way and last Easter I finally had the opportunity. After spending the night in the beautiful market town of Alston I set off bright and early in excellent weather and headed off along the route of the Pennine Way that I had taken previously, however I don’t have much of a memory of that grey, overcast day and my blog entry for that walk indicates I thought it was rather boring and tedious. I couldn’t remember which way to go despite having done the walk before so I had to rely on my map and the signposts as I walked through fields, past Harbut Lodge, over the road and onto the open moor of Park Fell. I don’t like crossing farmer’s fields as it feels like you’re intruding, so you have keep precisely to the path and this isn’t always clear. There is less pressure on open country where I could just relax and enjoy the walk while crossing the delightful Gilderdale Burn and around the mound that is the remains of the Roman Fort of Epiacum, now known as Whitley Castle.

Eventually I reached Lintley Viaduct that used to carry the railway line to Alston over the Thornhope Burn and below that there is now beautiful woodland that had also entranced me in 2009. From the viaduct the path drops down to the banks of the River South Tyne where celandines and wild garlic decorated the scene. I stopped beside the river to take some pictures in the gorgeous landscape where one feels compelled to stop and relax even though I had many miles to walk this day and couldn’t really afford the time to stop. Eventually I tore myself away and came into the village of Slaggyford where I had left the Pennine Way before to walk along the bed of the old railway, now the route of the South Tyne Trail. It is a shame that I came off the trail at that point as just after Slaggyford the Pennine Way crosses the Knar Burn in fabulous surroundings where an impressive viaduct looms overhead and celandines and wood anemones covered the woodland below. This is a beautiful spot and it was tragic that I had missed it in 2009 while at the top of the viaduct, but this delight was short-lived and now the walk deteriorated as I crossed many fields to eventually reach the grouse moors of the Knarsdale Estate.

The scenery was now much less interesting as I followed the route of the Maiden Way, an old Roman road, along the edge of the moor where the only respite was when I crossed the Glendue Burn in lovely surroundings despite the road being close by. Since it was now past noon I stopped to have my lunch beside the stream before setting off once again for the tiring slog north across tough moorland with no sign of a footpath to aid my progress. The only good thing was after the hot summer of 2018 the ground was still quite dry and not too boggy, but the heat on this day was beginning to wear me out and made the walking particularly tiring. Near Lambley I had to start taking bearings, aiming for High House on the horizon before dropping steeply down to cross the spectacular valley of the Hartley Burn where, after a pause to catch my breath and gather some energy, I headed up dreary, grassy fields to Ulpham and soon I was on a dull, monochrome, grassy moorland heading towards Blenkinsop Common.

There was no sign of a path across the boggy moor and soon I lost all traces of the correct route, however the Pennine Way at that point comes alongside a fence so I simply had to turn towards the west and beside the fence I found the path heading north. On finally reaching the far side of the moor I found a stile on the edge of Black Hill looking out over the Irthing valley where I was able to descend onto a clear track and turn right eventually coming upon an even clearer track that led me onto the A69 road. At this point I could have turned right heading straight into the small village of Greenhead, however although I seriously considered this I eventually decided to stay on the Pennine Way for a little longer to reach the Vallum ditch that lies just south of Hadrian’s Wall. The Pennine Way follows this across Haltwhistle Golf Course to reach the B6318 road where I finally left the trail and took the road south into Greenhead where I waited for a bus that would take me to Once Brewed where there is a youth hostel at The Sill landscape discovery centre.

The second half of this walk was very exhausting as I tried to make my way across featureless moorland in unseasonably hot weather covering more miles than I would have liked at this stage in my holiday. The best bits of the walk were when I was beside water, crossing the many deep-cut streams that flow into the River South Tyne, or beside the great river itself. At these points wild flowers abounded and delighted my soul, while sadly there are hardly any wild flowers on the high moors. I had restarted my trek along the Pennine Way and by the end of the week I would have finally completed it and satisfied my decade-long desire.