20th October 2019 - Stage 6. Alston to Haltwhistle

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Autumn

View from Lambley Viaduct

A two month break from our walk and summer has since long gone.
On this stretch of the route we have been spoilt with some beautiful autumnal views. Our camera phones really don't do the colours justice.


We had a full squad today and the Hairy Hiker was joined by his trusty friends, Helen, Phil and myself.
We first met at Haltwhistle, where we left my car and piled into Phil's to drive over to our starting point in Alston. Luckily Phil made the wise choice of not parking in the train station car park, which closed at 5pm and instead parked on the road outside the cafe. We weren't back by 5pm so a very wise decision indeed!

Alston Station

 Whilst planning our day and reading the guide we quickly discovered there was an option to ride the narrow gauge railway from Alston. We all agreed this was an opportunity that couldn't be missed. Who doesn't love a ride on an old train?
We had a few different options of how far to travel on the train and due to a few factors, mainly the very cold temperature and me not being 100% physically fit, we decided to travel to the end of the line at Slaggyford, shaving a good 4 miles off todays walking.
After buying our tickets we headed into the cafe and bought some warm drinks for the journey. We opted for the indoor carriage as we thought it was a bit fresh for the outdoor experience!

Coupling up

All aboard!

We thoroughly enjoyed the ride and took full advantage of the relaxing atmosphere, taking in the scenery along the way. The ticket inspector was a friendly fellow, pointing out things for us to look out for on our walk and wished us a good days walking.

The ride was just over 4 miles and took around 35 minutes.

From Slaggyford we crossed the tracks and joined the South Tyne Trail path. The Hairy Hiker was thrilled to eventually be of his lead and stretching his legs.

Setting off

Slaggyford

 We quickly came across a large section of path which was quite flooded and almost impassible. The Hairy hiker strolled straight on whilst we tried to negotiate the best way through. Helen took a wrong turn and her foot went completely under, resulting in a soggy sock and fits of laughter!

Continuing on we crossed a few bridges, passing the Kirkstyle Inn. We had a fantastic vantage point here where we took in some more of the beautiful surroundings and the array of autumnal colours. I must admit, autumn has to be one of my favourite seasons.

Messing around

Happy hiker

 We reached a point along the trail where there was a finger post directing us to turn right to head for Eals. Phil had noticed on his geocaching map that there was a suggestion of a secluded picnic area by the river so we turned off to investigate. Conveniently it was around lunch time and our tummy's were starting to rumble. We weren't disappointed when we discovered a gorgeous, quiet spot on the riverside with some large stone slabs to sit on and a bridge. We sat here and enjoyed our lunch break whilst watching salmon jumping! A memorable moment at a spot that was hard to pull yourself away from.

Hungry Hairy Hiker

Lunchtime view

An idyllic spot

 Whilst eating our lunch we noticed a carving in this rock which looked like it may say '1852'. We thought nothing of it at the time, until we reached Lambley viaduct and we noticed the plaque there stated the viaduct had been built in 1852. We are assuming maybe a worker on the viaduct engraved their initials into this rock. Maybe someone with some local knowledge may know more.

First Selfie of the day

After our lunch break we dragged ourselves away from this tranquil spot and headed back up to the South Tyne Trail path to restart our walk.

It wasn't long till we had the impressive Lambley Viaduct in our sites. There was two options when we got there. Climb up the steps to the top of the viaduct and walk over it, or clamber down the hill and cross the smaller bridge below it. We opted to walk across the viaduct to take in the beautiful views from the top and we weren't disappointed. Helen captured a fantastic shot of the Autumn colours, seen at the top of this page.

Lambley Viaduct

Selfie opportunity

After crossing the viaduct and heading downhill, passed a quaint little house, we soon found ourselves back by the riverside. We continued on our way, passing through fields of cattle and eventually making it to the P.O.W camp of 1945-48 and Featherstone Castle. We thought the plaque depicting the special story of this site, made for an interesting read.

We didn't have time to stop for a better look at the site so we carried on, leaving the grounds and passing the rather steep, Featherstone Bridge. We soon found ourselves on an extremely soggy track, taking us through Bellister Estate. This section was probably the worst part of the walk for us but we squelched onward, with only one of us ending up on our backside! (The one with the soggy foot!) The Hairy Hiker had no problems plodding through the mud and just looked back at us in confusion as to what all the fuss was about.

Happiness is...

Finally we made it to the last leg of today's section. As we approached Haltwhistle we discussed the days walking and how, if we hadn't opted to get the train this morning, we'd be 4 miles behind our current location. We all breathed a sigh of relief at what we agreed was a wise decision. The mud and cold had taken its toll on us today and we were pleased to see the car again.

This walk took us just over 6 hours, including the train ride.