WALKS AROUND THE MID-TYNE
9
bridleway’. Keep on the track as it turns left
and straight over another track into
Stonehaugh campsite (with wind turbine).
Look for coal tits
darting about the
edges of coniferous
woodland.
John Walters
4 Keep to left of field to a gate. Cut through the
next field, half-right to pair of wicket gates.
This path takes you across the field and
follows the edge of the gorge before coming
to a stile onto the Stonehaugh road. Once on
the road, turn right to return to Warks Burn
car park.
WALKS AROUND THE MID-TYNE
We hope you enjoy these walks from Stonehaugh. This is
one of 10 leaflets available, with 18 walks in all, to help
you enjoy exploring Hadrian’s Wall Country in this lovely
part of Northumberland.
Northumberland
National Park
Mid-Tyne
96
Great
Bavington
32
0
Wark
7 8
9
8
A6
Birtley
B6342
No
rt
Stonehaugh
Tyne
A6
Simonburn
B6318
8
The series of low waterfalls on the Middle
Burn occur where bands of extra hard rock (in
this case, sandstone) overlay beds of
relatively soft shale. The backwash from a
small waterfall creates erosion at the base of
the fall, eventually causing the overlying
chunk of sandstone to break off and the
waterfall gradually erodes its way upstream.
h
This famous netty (outside
toilet) at Low Roses Bower was
restored to its former glory by
Northumberland National Park
as part of its Conservation of
Historic Buildings Programme.
Find out more about the Park’s
work at www.northumberlandnational-park.org.uk.
R.
Waterfalls and wetlands
A6
Bellingham
B6
The Long Drop
Kirkwhelpington
Great
Whittington
Humshaugh
6
2
Chollerford
Newbrough Wall 1 2
4 5 10 Fourstones
The wet, boggy pastures on this walk are an
excellent habitat for ground-nesting birds like
the shy snipe and noisy curlews. Curlews
arrive here from their overwintering coastal
feeding grounds in February and March are
instantly recognisable from their long curved
beaks and fluting call.
3
Haydon Bridge
S.Tyne
1
2
3
4
5
Warks Burn bridge under construction - 1957
HEXHAM
Wall (2 walks)
Wall & Chollerford (2 walks)
Warden Hill
Newbrough (2 walks)
Newbrough - Carr Edge
6
7
8
9
10
Acomb
A69
R.
Tyne
Humshaugh (3 walks)
Wark (2 walks)
Wark - Warksfield Head
Stonehaugh (2 walks)
Fourstones (2 walks)
Reproduced with kind permission of Michael Murray
Stonehaugh was designed as a village for
Forestry Commission Workers in 1951 by Dr
Thomas Sharp, at a time when Wark Forest was
being planted by hand. The houses here were
painted and the surroundings landscaped in
1986-7 by the Commission’s Design Branch.
John Walters
Stonehaugh
Snipe
Published by the Mid Tyne Community Trust. To find out more
about what we do, contact us at: Women’s Institute House,
Newbrough, Hexham, NE47 5AR. Tel: 01434 674904
www.midtynetrust.ik.com email: [email protected]
Registered charity no. 1095760
This project has been funded by:
Stonehaugh
Walk 1: Warksfield Head - 6.5 km/4 miles
Walk 2: Middle Burn - 2 km/11⁄4 miles
These two walks make a great family outing - why
not do both in a day, with a lunch stop at Warks
Burn picnic place? The longer one takes in some
dramatic scenery, whilst the shorter one follows
a series of very pretty, low waterfalls.
5
Walk 1 : Low Roses Bower and the Long Drop
Walk 2 : Middle Burn waterfalls
Length: 1.5km/1 mile
Allow: 45 minutes
Length: 4 km/21⁄2 miles
Allow: 1 hour 15 minutes
The Long
Drop
An attractive walk following the edge of a gorge
cut by the Warks Burn.
4
Roses Bower
In Warks Burn Picnic Place car park on
the edge of Stonehaugh.
Leave the car park by the steps and cross the
road bridge.
1 Walk up the hill for 100m and just before the
National Park cairn, go left over a stile beside
a gate ‘bridleway Stonehaugh Shields 1⁄4’. Keep
to a path that runs along the edge of the valley
overlooking the gorge of the Warks Burn. Keep
children under close watch as there is a steep
drop and the edge can be hidden by long grass.
After 100m bear right, heading for the wind
turbine.
2 Go through a couple of wicket gates which
bring you into a small field. Follow the path half
right, through another wicket gate into a
campsite. Turn right and pick up a track to
leave the site through a gate. At a crossroads
of tracks continue straight over but after a few
metres bear left to follow a public footpath
signed ‘Low Roses Bower, 3⁄4’. This takes you
over a stile, along a short stretch of boardwalk
before climbing up and away from the gorge to
a coniferous woodland.
3 You come to a fence and stile by an electricity
pole, with a wide break in the forest ahead.
Cross the stile and follow path to the left of the
clearing. Take care, there can be slippery
brashings (branches stripped from tree trunks)
and hidden holes. The conifers gradually give way
This interesting, short circuit around Stonehaugh
involves fording a river. For those unable to jump
or wade, it is a pleasant short stroll to and from
the series of waterfalls.
Walk 1
As Walk 1
Old School
House
Leave the car park by the steps and cross
the road bridge.
campsite
2
3
4
1
Start 1
Stonehaugh
2
3
© Crown copyright 1997. All rights reserved.
Licence number 100042280
Walk 2
to an attractive mix of rowan and silver birch on
your left. You pass a farm on the opposite side
of the gorge - this is Roses Bower. Keep to the
edge of the gorge until you come to a
waymarker taking you left down into woodland.
4 Follow this small path as it drops steeply
down through the woodland, including a
couple of sections of stone steps. At the
bottom, cross a stile then turn left and over
the footbridge across Warks Burn.
Keep the old stone wall on your left and climb
up a steep raised path, to the ruins of Low
Roses Bower. Turn left along a track to a
public footpath fingerpost. To visit The Long
Drop (a famous netty/toilet) keep straight on
along the track for just a few metres. Retrace
you steps to the footpath sign and follow this
up the bank into and across the field, keeping
the burn to your left. Cross a stile, and follow
fence to your right out onto road.
5 Turn left along this quiet road and after about
1km/3⁄4 mile take the next left signed
Stonehaugh to return to your starting point.
On the far side of the bridge, turn right down
some grassy steps, to a picnic area with
three totem poles. Turn right over the
footbridge and go left over a stile next to a
gate waymarked bridleway.
1 Walk up this field, and bear left to follow a
tractor track past a stone barn. A series of very
attractive waterfalls are below you on the
Middle Burn. Past the barn keep in the direction
of the track to a ford.
2 Pick your way across the burn, then head half
right, up a steep bank. At the top, forestry
buildings come into view on your left. Keep half
right across the fell, aiming to the right of the
clump of pine trees ahead. Go through a wicket
gate onto a grassy track which leads you onto a
road. Go straight across and down a clear
track, signed ‘Stonehaugh Shield 1⁄2’.
3 Cross a wooden bridge, passing near some
wooden chalets to a fingerpost and a
surfaced track. Take the left hand turn,
following another fingerpost. This leads down
to a handsome stonebuilt house. Just before
the house take a right, signposted ‘public