Return to Alnwick

Tuesday 5^th August 2025

My plan for the next three days was to gather more Veloviewer explorer tiles in a very quiet and scenic part of the country, and ideally not battling through wind and rain in doing so.  I may have let lucky with these aims since Storm Floris had done her worst by this morning, and the rain had all but stopped by the time I set off on the drive up to Edmundbyers in county Durham.  When you look at a map of the UK showing the routes I’ve cycled, there is a clear gap between Newcastle and Alnwick and so this week I intend to close that gap with three rides.   The first is a loop round an area south of the Tyne travelling without bags, and then days two and three will be to head north to Alnwick and back.  

I’ve switched bikes for this trip, taking my road bike after changing the wheels and tyres to some more suitable for touring.  Instead of panniers, I’ll be carrying a light bikepacking bag with just the overnight essentials.

The drive northeast was smooth and the hostel has a large car park so by 11.30 I was ready for a ride.  The route today was sort-of circular and was intended to gather some tiles missing from the time I was here in 2021 and also to pick off a couple more NE climbs.  The day was super-hilly overall, but there were no big climbs just loads of undulations.  And it was windy.  The Met Office reckoned that it was a steady 20mph westerly, with gusts of up to 40mph, but Garmin told me that the average was just 15mph so who do I believe?   The good news was that it barely rained all day, despite the forecast for showers.  I sheltered under a tree for five minutes to avoid one small shower, but that was all.

I had a scone and cappuccino at Wheelbirks, an ice cream parlour on a farm.  It was very busy (usually a good sign) and the setting was lovely.  On the approach to the farm, I passed some very robust Jersey cows which I assume provided the milk for the ice cream.  They looked very happy and self-satisfied.

It was only as I arrived here that I realised that in swapping from my tourer to a road bike I had forgotten to include a bike lock.  It wasn’t a problem just then and oughtn’t be a problem tomorrow since at Alnwick I have booked a slot in a state-of-the-art bike shed.  I might still buy a café lock anyway – I’d feel more relaxed. 

The two climbs (from the NE Climbs book) were planned into this route weeks ago when I booked the accommodation and I then promptly forgot I’d done it.  So when I’d finished the first one (Hedley-on-the-Hill) I actually thought I was just heading out to gather a couple of extra tiles and wondered why the route suggested I turn back just before reaching the second tile after the summit.  You may gather that I’m not chasing any speed records up these hills: I just want to complete them. However, I was aware of the second climb, Prospect Hill, which was a gorgeous road, with seven equally spaced 90º bends.  I could almost imagine I was climbing a micro Alpe d’Huez.  I felt a little frustration when I had to stop on the narrow road to let a refuse truck pass.  For the record, I stopped for 14 seconds on the climb! 

Although I wasn’t aiming to get into the record books, I did manage to be 4th fastest in the world on one Strava segment.  I was simply avoiding spending more time on the A68 and seemingly 28 other people think like me and took this diversion.  Had I known this in advance I feel sure I could have taken the KoM with the assistance I was getting from the tailwind today.

Before I returned to Edmundbyers, I diverted to a very pretty village called Blanchland. The last time I came here was in July 2021 and then it was packed with tourists. Today, apart from an old guy on a motorbike, there was only me there, so I didn’t linger. It was just as pretty, however.

My room (in a dorm) is right above a pub (The Baa!) so I’ve no problem in obtaining liquid refreshment.  So far, I’m the only occupant of the room. 

I’ve brought my tea from home, so at 7pm I set about warming the food.  Until then, the kitchen was very busy with people tidying up after a WI tea party which had taken place earlier in a marquee at the rear of the pub.  After my tea, I went to the bar to order another pint and the landlady whispered to me that there was some pavlova left over from the WI party in the fridge for me!  Isn’t that great?  It was in a very large bowl heaped with strawberries, peaches, blueberries, cream and meringue.  I struggled to finish it, but I persevered (I can be tenacious when necessary) and eventually polished it off.  I left a donation in the honesty box to assuage my guilt.  The blackberry cake that Geraldine had packed me for afters was carefully wrapped up to take with me tomorrow.  It’ll mean additional weight, but I could argue that the cake’s probably no heavier than a bicycle lock.

Wednesday 6^th August 2025

I’d brought my own breakfast this morning, so after cereal and numerous cups of tea, I packed a few meagre things into my seat post bag, struggling to place items in the best order for balance, shape and accessibility.  This took longer than I expected and so I was only on the road at 09:35, heading into the wind.  It wasn’t long before I turned to head NNE, the predominant direction for the day.  The wind was still in the west and although gusty, was less strong than yesterday.

The roads were narrow but very quiet, with little traffic apart from farm vehicles.  Some of these were huge, though: I wouldn’t have liked to have met some of these in a car or van. 

There were eateries in Corbridge at 17 miles, but even at 11am this felt too soon so I carried on, heading for a café at Wallington.  What I didn’t realise until I got there was that it was within the grounds of Wallington Hall, owned by the National Trust.  I didn’t fancy paying £20 just for the privilege of buying a snack, but the nice lady on the gate allowed me in by pretending to scan a card (apparently for the benefit of the security cameras – they must be really hot on security to examine all that footage!)

The café was packed and after a long wait in the queue I finally bought my stuff and sat at an outside table with all the insects.  I think they were having some sort of waspfest that day.  Once refreshed, I was careful to shield my eyes as I left since I hadn’t paid for entry into the grounds.  I then continued north with just a few minor diversions to collect tiles.

I knew that there was one NE climb on today’s route, up Corby’s Crags.  I’d ridden this earlier in the year, and knew that it wasn’t too bad, although the road was quite busy.  Today, long before I reached that point, I was conscious that the road out of Rothbury was displaying all the hallmarks of a serious climb.  Sure enough, when I checked, I’d unknowingly climbed Cragpit Hill which is number 157 in the ‘Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs’ book.  I’m kinda glad I didn’t know that at the time, or I’d’ve been more frustrated when I had to give way to a tractor and trailer who delayed me for over a minute.

I knew that my bike would be in a secure room tonight, but I’d been advised by the YHA to bring a lock, which I’d forgotten to do.  I noticed that there was a bike shop in town, so I nipped in to buy a small lock but was out of luck.  I could buy huge chains and heavy calibre cable locks but nothing that I could slip into my pocket.  I really didn’t want to buy something that weighed as much as the bike, so as a last resort, I bought the lightest lock they had which was a girlie pink thing with an animal head where the key went.  For a six-year-old girl, this was fine, but it didn’t really go with my image.  

After I’d checked into the hostel, I found the bike shed which was tucked away down an alley behind some gates with a secure keypad lock on an unmarked door.  It felt pretty safe to me, even more so when I discovered inside several complimentary bike locks!

Once more, I’m in an en suite dorm and I’m the only occupant.  The amount I saved by not booking a private room has more than offset the cost of the girlie bike lock.

I had a delicious meal at the Market Tavern in town.  I was amazed yet again at the number of people eating out mid-week.  I arrived at 6:30 and asked for a table for one and after a pause I was told that whilst there was a table available, I would need to vacate it before 8pm but that suited me.  The food was exceptional for what seemed to be a pub.  I noticed that the menu even offered chateaubriand (at £80 a pop) and a huge 1kg T-bone steak at £75.  I had a burger.

After I left the Market Tavern, I had a quick stroll round town before having an early night.

Thursday 7^th August 2025

I bought a continental breakfast at the hostel today (it was all they offered) and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.  It wasn’t advertised as ‘all you can eat’ like the YHA usually say, but the food on offer was plentiful.  In addition to choosing from a selection of cereal, yoghurt, fruit, toast, juice and tea/coffee, each diner was given a huge muffin and a delicious warm croissant.  I usually avoid croissants in UK but this was wonderful – just like the French do it.  So I went on my way thoroughly fed up and headed south and into a headwind.

Once more, I’m unsure who to believe on the wind strength and direction.  The Met Office, my preferred forecaster, was saying 13mph SW, but Garmin after the event reported 21mph SSW, which actually felt more believable.  I certainly sensed the wind much more than yesterday especially since the ride was very flat for the first 55 miles but the wind certainly compensated for the lack of climbing.

It began to drizzle after a mile and this kept up for most of the morning.  Not enough for waterproofs, nor even to wet the road properly, but just enough to be annoying.  Surprisingly, it was often sunny at the same time which was bizarre. 

The drizzle also robbed me of the chance of taking any good photos, although for most of the way, there was nothing to see.  I passed HMP Northumberland and the huge Paramal pharmaceuticals factory, but neither really cut it as a tourist attraction. I did see a few interesting sights, including the spectacular Warkworth Castle and an odd wind shelter on the road into Amble.

I was heading to Morpeth for lunch, but after the fiasco with the lock, I didn’t fancy leaving the bike anywhere too built up.  So when I passed a beautiful cafe with a rear garden in an out-of-the-way village, I called in. 

I cycled through Morpeth a few minutes later, and I realised that I’d made a good call.  The town appeared to have little to recommend it apart from boasting several good cycle paths separated from the traffic.

I joined the River Tyne Trail just west of Newcastle and followed it along the north bank of the river for quite a way.  It was an excellent path and being covered in trees, quite sheltered from the wind.  It was only after crossing the river near Stocksfield that I started on the first real climbs of the day.  Once more, the hills weren’t steep, but they were long and today, they were headwindy and sapped my energy. 

It’s been a great few days, and I’ve been so lucky with the weather: I could easily have booked for a couple of days earlier and been caught in the middle of Storm Floris.  The road bike performed admirably in its new role as a bike packing bike.  I wouldn’t like to go away for much longer with that setup, or perhaps at all in winter, but for this trip, it was ideal.

The total distance was nearly 190 miles with over 15,000 feet of vertical ascent.  I rode in 196 new explorer tiles and picked off three new NE Climbs.  My next trip is being formulated now and will be a tour through Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, which will leave me with just the counties of Norfolk and the City of London to cover.

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