Cottages near to Kirknewton,Wooler

Kirknewton is a small village north of Wooler and halfway to the Scottish Border. It lies at the heart of Glendale , a valley formed by the confluence of the River Glen and Bowmont Water.

The area is rich in history, from the prehistoric displays at Maelmin , through the battlefield at Flodden , border reiver times and into the 19th century with the Collingwood oaks...there is plenty to see here.

There are some lovely holiday cottages to chose from, for instance

Those in the College Valley

and then

The Lodge

Croft Cottage

and

Mindrum Mill

So if you would like to explore this wonderful area of Northumberland then please give us a call.

Cottages in Wooler,Northumberland

Wooler is an important market town situated just to the east of the Cheviot hills and south of the border with Scotland.It looks eastward across the valley of the Till and is a thriving centre with shops and accommodation. Popular with walkers and the many tourists who come to stay in North Northumberland it provides an ideal centre for exploring this beautiful area of Northumberland.

Northumbria byways have many cottages both in and close to Wooler including

The Bothy

Akeld hill view

Croft cottage

The College Valley

and

the Garden flat

So if you would like to explore this beautiful area of Northumberland why not give us a call?

Autumn in the Valley

The small summer house which looks out from Hethpool towards the road in from Kirknewton. Also beautiful autumn leaves along the driveway at Hethpool.

Hethpool Linn,waterfall and autumn berries

Lovely colours and shades in autumn, but of all these our favourite must be the bright red berries on the Rowans.

Hethpool lake

Hethpool Lake.Showing the boathouse and the fish run which was built to allow fish to access the lake.By all accounts the "run" wasn't quite right as to the ease of access and it is gently turning back to nature, as the saying goes.

Sunsets in the Valley

No need for words...these pictures help to show just how dramatic a sunset in the Cheviots can be.

Cannon in the Valley

Knowing the history of the College Valley and it's association with Admiral Collingwood we had thought that these cannon alongside Hethpool house were maybe from one of the ships which fought at Trafalgar. However this visit we found a small plate attached to the cannon saying that in reality they were from Newcastle castle.

Oh...one final point our friends have asked us to point out how good the cottages in the Valley are for dog friendly holidays.

Maelmin, ancient heritage trail near Millfield

Maelmin is a strange place. It's just off the A697 between Wooler and Coldstream and hiding behind a memorial to the fallen in WW2. Not an obvious place of interest.


Basically when excavating the nearby airfield a house from around 500 AD was unearthed. This house has been reconstructed here...


The site has the following attractions

A dark age house

A mesolithic hut.....pictured here

A henge





and lots of story boards.

Overall this is a much understated attraction.It's well worth a visit and the chances are you will be the only one here.

Other local attractions include Flodden and of course the College Valley.

College Valley - feral goats

Just one picture to show that College Valley Estates try to check the goats each year. Give them a once over as it were

So if you are interested in feral goats and how they survive in the wild then why not come to one of the remote cottages in the College Valley.

Trafalgar wood

Here are a couple of pictures for something that is often missed. As you come into the College Valley, just before you drop down towards towards Hethpool the view is fantastic.Everyone looks ahead and up the valley but just on your right hand side is this small wood planted in 2005. Its called Trafalgar wood in memory of Lord Collingwood. Nearby you have Hethpool Mill and just before you come into the Valley there is Akeld Hill View.

Flying fortress on the Cheviot

You might recall that a little while ago we wrote a short blog about the WW2 memorial alongside Cuddystone Hall?

Well recently when we stayed at Dunsdale House we took the opportunity to climb past Bizzle Crags and on to Braydon Crags. It was up here, hidden in the large furrows amongst the peat we came across the remains of 44-6504, a Boing B-17G flying fortress which crashed here on 16th December 1944.

We found a small book, "Where the hills meet the sky" by Peter Clark. It covers many more crashes than just this Boing but what it also does is to talk about that afternoon in December when the plane crashed. It tells the story about the Shepherds and the Border Collie climbing the Bizzle to bring down the survivors. The two men who climbed the hill were awarded medals. The Collie also received the Dicken medal...the only non military dog to be given the honour during ww2.

Four of the airmen were brought down to Dunsdale.Three made their own way to Mount Hooly . Unfortunately two were killed.

You can see the pictures here on flickr.

College Valley in the snow - Dunsdale house

Our February long week end up at Dunsdale house in the College Valley turned into a winter wonderland with loads of snow.

We posted this image on Geograph.org









And we also took plenty of , well rather amateurish, videos on you tube.


One of which is here!

Satellite maps of the College Valley

Wen have been experimenting with using satellite images to try and show the beauty of some of the places where we have houses to let

Our first attempt was using Panoramio which allows you to place your photos onto a map. This picture shows the layout of what you will see.This is the College Valley and you can see our images on the left hand side....then the satellite picture and so on.
















Then we looked at Wikimapia. This allows you to copy the code for the area into an I Frame as below...so what ...its the same as panoramio? Well its not...the neat thing is that you can move the map within the i frame and zoom in and out

Sunset over the Cheviots, from Hethpool Mill,xmas 2008

Sunset over the Cheviots, from Hethpool Mill,xmas 2008
Originally uploaded by Northumbria Byways

Sometimes we were really lucky and the sunsets over the College Valley were spectacular.

Hill Fort,Great Hetha, College Valley

Hill Fort,Great Hetha, College Valley
Originally uploaded by Northumbria Byways

We climbed Great Hetha on a clear beautiful day over xmas 2008. On the top it took us a little time to realise where the hill fort was.It was all around us....too big to see with one view.

Walking down the north west side into the Valley of Trowupburn and then back to the Mill made us realise really how beautiful the College Valley is.

Hethpool Mill from Great Hetha

P1010241
Originally uploaded by Northumbria Byways

This is a view from Great Hetha looking down towards the Mill house.Taken on a glorious day over christmas 2008.

David Haffey's "Walks in the Cheviot hills"

One of the pleasures which comes from exploring a wonderful county like Northumberland is when you pick up a book which talks about the area and you can then see how what the author thinks about the things you see and love.
So it was with keen anticipation that we opened the newly arrives "Walks in the Cheviot hills" by David Haffey.
The 1st walk he discusses is Hethpool,Great Hetha and the Elsdon burn. An area we know a little about having spent a week in Hethpool mill.
Ok so what does he say about the walk?

1. The College valley is one of the most unspoilt in Northumberland....well we agree 100% with that.
2. There is an iron age hill fort on the summit of Great Hetha. Well we must have seen that on the map but we hadn't managed the climb....so mark that down for our next trip.
3. "The cheviot hills have one of the greatest surviving concentrations of bronze and iron age settlements in the British Isles". The one at Great Hetha dates from about 500 bc with stone ramparts surrounding a central area which would have contained timber built round houses.
4. The walk takes you down to Trowupburn at the head of Hetha burn which then becomes the Elsdon burn. Well we got half way up the burn on our last trip.....so Trowupburn will be a new place to see next time round.
5. Oh....this is interesting...he says that there is a Wych Elm here. That will be worth seeing.
6. The book then mentions the Collingwood oaks and Lord Collingwood who grew the oak trees on his estates to boost the timber stock for the Royal Navy. Each ship needed about 2,500 trees!
7. The Hethpool cottages. Well we had seen and marvelled at these.They are beautifully done.....the picture at the top of this blog shows the cottages from Hethpool mill. But he then goes on to say that they were designed in 1926 by Robert Mauchlen for Sir Arthur Sutherland in the "arts and crafts" style.We hadn't known who designed them....so that's interesting.Also with this knowledge we clicked through to Wikipedia to learn that Sir Arthur had donated substantial funds to establish the now thriving medical and dental schools at Newcastle University.

So a good start and we will read through the other walks and report back :-)

College Valley - the houses in the Valley

This is the estate office at the start of the valley





Then comes a series of adjoining cottages. When we first saw them our first thoughts

were that they were originally thatched cottages, but no, we now believe that they were purpose built around 1919.




One third of the way up is Whitehall...we had originally thought this was for let...but no its not for letting :-(


There is then a small almost wooden or timber building. Very basic but beautiful none the less. Even the maps don't give it a name.




Next comes Cuddystone Hall



and this is followed by Fleehope...sorry no picture yet.


and adjacent to Fleehope is this timber building





Finally at the top of the Valley is Mounthooly and the YHA.

Cuddystone Hall - College Valley

Cuddystone Hall is halfway up the Valley towards Mounthooly.WHen we passed these sheep were waiting in the doorway almost as if they were expecting the parson for a sermon or perhaps more likely the first guests for a dance.

RAF memorial - WW2 -Cheviot hills

We were surprised to come across this memorial to the airmen killed in WW2 when their planes crashed in the Cheviot Hills. It's a lonely setting in the College Valley and vert atmospheric. The laminated A4 sheet was left in memory by a couple of Dutch families who have memories of the contribution that these airmen made 60 plus years ago.
10th October 1939 - Hart
18th March 1940 - Hampden
24th April 1941 - Hurricane
15th January 1942 - Wellington
9th January 1943 - Wellington
25th March 1943 - Spitfire
15th May 1944 - Beaufighter
25 Sep 1944 - Stirling
4th October 1944 - Lancaster
12th Dec 1944 - Mosquito
14th Dec 1944 - B17
18th Feb 1945 - Halifax
23 July 1946 - Warwick


Coldburn cottage and Dunsdale House are the closest properties, within 1/2 mile.

Hethpool Mill and Panoramio

Have just added a picture to Panoramio. This means that it will also end up on Google Earth.
Its always interesting to record the exact grid reference and altitude as follows

55º 32' 41.25" N 2º 10' 0.16" W

and 145 metres above sea level.

Hethpool Lake

At the foot of the College Valley is a lovely quiet lake. Fishing is possible and a boat can be hired. However just sitting there with the peace and quiet is wonderfully relaxing.
In addition to Hethpool Mill you can also rent Coldburn Cottage or for a bigger house there is Dunsdale house.

Hethpool Linn - waterfalls

Staying in the College Valley we had read about the local waterfalls, only a mile from
Hethpool Mill.

The walk was easy enough albeit it we had to skirt around 3 rather frisky horses. Unfortunately the heavy rainfall had made the going rather wet and soggy but the gorge and falls were unexpectedly good.

Back from Wooler and the College Valley

We stayed at Hethpool Mill for 1 week, just got back this week end and loads to write about. Overall the house and area were more than we had expected. The weather was very poor , lots of rain and the rivers in full spate. However despite this we still had a good time. The house was very well presented, lots of room and the furnishings were high quality. The setting was QUIET .....as quiet as anywhere we have been. We took days off to the coast, Berwick, Seahouses, Bamburgh and also a day into the Scottish Borders to Jedburgh and Kelso.So much more to talk about over the next few weeks...but at the moment just the beautiful Panorama from the front of the Mill house.

Wooler and the College Valley

Well we have finally booked our summer holiday! After much discussion and having been spoilt for choice we chose the Hethpool Mill in the College valley. It's remote, isolated and quiet. We can take the dogs as well.

Also there is ancient history here with talk of people living here up to 7,000 years ago.

The walking is great as well, the Pennine way runs along the ridges and then down to Kirk Yetholm where it comes to an end.

When we come back i hope to bring lots of photographs and hopefully be able to show some of the attractions of this unique valley.

Finally a big thank you to Jon at Shepherd's walks for the walking brochures.