We kicked off our bank holiday weekend by heading to the north of Northumberland and to Twizel Bridge to do another walk from Stuart Miller’s Adventurous Pub Walks book.
Although it was the end of August when we did this walk it was really cold and definitely starting to feel more like Autumn than summer!
We started out at a little parking area next to Twizel Bridge, the bridge is now part of the Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum due to its connection with the Battle of Flodden Field when it is likely that the bridge was used by both the Scottish and English armies to cross the river Till.
From the bridge we headed up hill through some trees following a footpath until we reached the impressive remains of Twizel Castle. Although the ruin does have the remains of a Pele tower within it most of the structure is actually a folly constructed in the 18th century.
After looking at Twizel Castle we continued on our way, heading back towards the busy road we’d driven along to get here. This is where our enjoyment of the walk took a dip for a while. Walking along the road was a pain as we had to keep jumping into the verge to avoid cars and then we had to walk through a farm where the path was poorly, or at times not at all, marked.
After managing to find our way through the farm we got to a riverside path along the River Tweed but only briefly as soon we took a turn off here and headed through the pleasant wooded area of Newbiggin Dene. The paths through here were a big improvement and we even managed to find a bench to stop and have lunch which had impressive views of North Northumberland and the Cheviots.
Moving on after lunch we soon reached Norham station where trains would have ran from 1851 to the 1960’s before the branch line was dismantled. The buildings remain and until recently were open as a museum. The station is now under new ownership and you can no longer visit, but information and pictures are available at here.
Reaching Norham station didn’t mean that we had arrived at Norham, as the station is in fact a mile away from the village! So we pressed on and before too long were able to see Norham Castle.
We had never visited Norham Castle before and weren’t expecting that much, but it turned out to be a lot bigger than we’d thought. It’s looked after by English Heritage but entry is free. The remaining ruins are impressive and in parts still intact enough to go inside. There’s also a lot of useful information boards about so you know what you’re looking at.
Norham Castle was founded by the Bishop of Durham and used for many years as an important stronghold against Scottish attacks, given that it stands right on the border.
After spending some time exploring the castle we went on passing through Norham village and through the churchyard of St Cuthbert’s Church, which has an interesting history linked with the castle. At one point the church was used as a stronghold by Robert the Bruce during a seige of Norham Castle.
Leaving Norham we turned onto the riverside path by the Tweed again, which we were to follow for most of the return leg. The section between Norham and Ladykirk bridge was beautiful and seemed to be a popular route. We enjoyed walking between the avenue of trees and admiring the view of the Tweed.
Past Ladykirk bridge the path continued to be wide and pleasant for some time but after a while it became narrower and often overgrown as well as steep in places. It was also sometimes very narrow and right on the edge of the river which made the way back feel like hard going.
When we did get to the end of this path we then had to turn to follow a path along the river Till which, although better and easier to follow, felt like it went on forever before we got back to Twizel Bridge. Given that the walk came out about 12 miles I think this last bit only gave us problems because we were starting to flag!
This walk definitely felt like it fell into two sections, with the parts around Norham being very enjoyable but the start and end around Twizel Bridge feeling like a real slog. So while we would definitely go back to the area we’d choose a different walk which didn’t include these parts!
Walks at the Weekend 