Blanchland to Corbridge – 20 November 2021
A winter wonderland visit in more ways than one. We have only ever finished at Corbridge on two occasions and on them both we started from Blanchland. At least the intention was to start at Blanchland the first time we went there but we didn’t quite make it there that time. The other odd thing about the visits is that the first one occurred in January 2013 and then we went back in December 2017 and this time we are going in November 2021. That’s four years between visits and all of them winter visits, strange but true.
The first time in 2013 we had a heavy snowfall in the morning but as we headed south on the A68 you could see it was getting heavier and the driver of the coach decided that he would not be able to make it all the way to Blanchland. We decided to get off the coach and let the driver make his way to Corbridge and we divided into two groups and made our way west and into Slaley Forest. The sun came out and we had one of the best winters walks ever, walking on footpaths totally covered in snow with heavy snow laying on the branches of trees. By the time we got to Corbridge the snow was much lighter and we had an easy journey home.
The visit in December 2017 is less memorable mainly because no images seem to have been taken during that day, usually, that indicates that it was raining and no one could be bothered to take their cameras out. Although it is only a few years ago mobile phones did not have the best cameras then so no mobile pictures either.
While there were only two routes in 2013, there were four routes in 2017 but this time around we are down to three routes. There’s some sort of symmetry in finishing at Corbridge. The shortest route is 8.5-miles and will be the last off the coach at Colpittsburn House on the B6306. This route heads north through Slaley and then northwest towards Lightwater Cottages and a walk through Seventy Acre Wood before coming into Corbridge via Ladycutters Lane.
The 11.5-mile route is first off the coach on the way to Blanchland and heads through Slaley Forest and north through Slaley before going north-east around Dipton Wood before also coming into Corbridge via Ladycutters Lane. The 12-mile route starts in Blanchland and gets to Slaley Forest via Shildon and Blanchland Moor. After leaving Slaley the route follows the 11.5-mile route into Corbridge.
No promises for winter wonderland walks to Corbridge this time around but if you would like to join us for a walk you can get in touch with us using the Contact Page of our website and you can also download the walk descriptions below and the GPX routes here.
The image for this post was taken on that winter wonderland walk all the way back in 2013.
