One of the best....

After hiking Hadrians Wall, Kielder Forest, and various other routes around Northumberland and basically walking our legs off, we decided we wanted a gentler walk. This one ticked all our boxes.

Parking at the NT carpark, which is incredibly reasonable at £4, we took off on the 'brown walk', which was mostly well signed (a a bit of common sense needed on a couple of occasions where posts were missing/broken). It is a little rocky underfoot so walking shoes are advisable, but it is a well marked track where our furry pals can run wild to their heart's content.

We diverted off the path to have a swing over the river (see photo) and took a further diversion at Plankey Mill to extend the walk through the forest and along the river for a picturesque lunch stop at Cupola Bridge.

Moses, our 9 year old Sproodle, acted like a 9 month old on this walk; dashing into the river at every opportune moment; clambering up steep banks in the vain hope of bagging a squirrel, and vaulting over fallen tree logs. He was living his best life! We thoroughly enjoyed it and declared it one of the best off-lead walks we had been on, with no sheep-poo on the menu for Moses or livestock to worry about. A fab day out!

Happy hound at Harrington!

This is, as Lezli describes, a fantastic walk. There’s plenty to see; a lovely village to start with - with a great cheese shop - a public loo (a necessity after a fab coffee) and stunning scenery.

At first I was a little concerned because the walk seemed to go through fields of cows (cow phobia!) until I realised that the walk actually was on a pathway between two stone walls! Best foot forward and we ended up at the foothills of the dale.

There are sheep around here, but plenty of walkers who point out where the sheep are (if your hound is a chaser). This part of the walk is quite rocky and uneven under foot - so take care if you’re a bit clumsy or unsteady on your feet.

The directions, as usual, are easy to follow and we got back once again without getting lost - usually unheard of when we venture out by ourselves!

This is a great walk if you like a bit of everything; fields, dales, rivers and ponds. We watched a heron attempting to catch a late lunch and our dog, Moses, had the best fun fetching sticks out of the river.

If you don’t fancy the rocky dale, you can always head straight for the river. At the beginning of this walk instead of turning left uphill, you can go straight through the kissing gates, through the meadow and keep going, through the wood and ending up at the river and then just double back. It’s fairly flat along here and so easier underfoot.

Moses was most appreciative of the river, but he did also enjoy his doggy ice cream at the end of it!

All in all, we loved this walk and highly recommend it!

Fabulous walk with lots to offer

You start off in a little wooded area, reaching paths lined with beautiful, purple heather. The scenery is delightful. The nine sisters folklore entertaining. The cork stone can be climbed using the iron foot rests, if you’re adventurous!

There’s plenty to see and although a popular spot, you can walk pretty much without seeing many people. There are sheep here though, and unless you can keep your hound under close control, we recommend a lead - as the lambs were not always visible because of the heather and bracken.

We stopped off for coffee at the Druid Inn where we were met by an incredibly friendly lady, who provided us with a lovely Americano and made a huge fuss of our Sproodle, much to his delight!

Overal, a great walk with fabulous directions - which we love, because we usually get lost and on this occasion, we didn’t!