St Cuthbert’s Way to Wooler

Saturday 27th April 2019

Ten years after starting the Pennine Way, last Easter I finally managed to complete the full course of this most definitive long distance trail in Britain and I was in the small village of Kirk Yetholm, just a mile or two from the border between England and Scotland. On the last day of my holiday I now turned my attention to heading home, but there is no bus service from Kirk Yetholm directly to a railway station so I would have needed to change buses in Kelso, however an alternative that would enable me to get a walk in first was to head towards a place that does have a bus service to the nearest railway station. Fortunately there is a long distance trail called St. Cuthbert’s Way that follows a sixty-two mile route between Montrose Abbey, where St Cuthbert began his religious life, and Lindisfarne on Holy Island, where he was initially buried. It passes through Kirk Yetholm and on its third day crosses the border to reach the small town of Wooler in Northumberland where there is a bus service to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Therefore the morning after I had come down off the Cheviot Hills on the Pennine Way I retraced my steps back along the trail climbing all the way up to the border. By the time I reached the English border I was exhausted, but still amused to see the sign that proclaims “Welcome to England” with the sign in the opposite direction proclaiming “Welcome to Scotland”.

Waving goodbye to Scotland I strode into England slowly descending into a shallow valley under grey skies that, like the forecast, promised rain, which had prompted me to put on my waterproofs, but what rain ultimately came was light and didn’t last very long. On reaching the Elsdon Burn a farmer’s road enabled me to maintain a fast pace while the promised rain fell, but I was still able to appreciate the beauty of this quiet valley where gorse bushes thick with yellow flowers decorated the surroundings. Soon I turned into the spectacular College Valley that is well-known for its wild beauty and tranquillity, so I was disappointed that I would not be spending more time in the valley exploring its delights. I crossed the College Burn near Hethpool Mill where the gorse beside the river produced a lovely scene, but I had to turn my back on that beauty and continue east passing a stream in a shallow wooded gorge that had me in rapturous delight while young bluebells decorated the far bank. The terrain now deteriorated as the College Burn swung north and I climbed over the low grassy hillside passing between West Hill and Easter Tor while vast heather moorland covered the slopes to my right.

When I glanced at my map I realised St Cuthbert’s Way was about to head steeply uphill into the moorland so with grim foreboding I turned right and toiled up onto the heather moor. This was a very depressing place as it is clearly managed for grouse shooting which produces a monoculture environment of heather where cowardly men with big guns hide behind a grouse butt from small birds. I was in no mood to linger so I hurried across the moor without taking any pictures and eventually reached the far side descending into the valley beside Humbleton Burn not far from the town of Wooler, however St Cuthbert’s Way had other plans. Rather than turning left towards Wooler I turned right to go up to the top of the wooded Kenterdale Hill before finally heading down into the small market town. This was a varied little walk with a moorland crossing that was a little too reminiscent of the Pennines, but the earlier valley walks were delightful and the final descent into Wooler was a pleasant end to the walk. After a week’s walking along the Pennine Way I was rather tired so I was glad that the walking was now coming to an end as I strolled into Wooler to catch a bus that would begin my journey home.