Thockley to Wylam – 5 February 2022
Here’s another first for 2022, Throckley to Wylam, we have never finished at Wylam before and I am not sure we have started so close to home. We did the Red Kite Trail some years ago so I guess that is pretty close as well but that walk was not actually planned but came about because we had a big snowfall and had to cancel the original walks. Both Throckley and Wylam and a few of the other small communities to the west of Newcastle are still classed as villages but they are slowly being pulled into the urban sprawl of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Throckley has a distinction in that Hadrian’s Wall used to pass through the village along the route of what is now the main road running through the village. Hadrian’s Wall Path was established in 2003 but to make it easier for walkers there is a diversion at Heddon-on-the-Wall which takes the path south and down to the River Tyne so it misses completely the line of the original wall as it passes through Throckley and into Newcastle upon Tyne.
If Throckley has Hadrian’s Wall as a distinction then Wylam has the distinction of being the birthplace of George Stephenson, the railway engineer and pioneer of rail transport in the 19th century. George was born in a cottage on 9th June 1781 and spent his early years there before moving to Willington Quay, east of Newcastle in 1802. His birthplace is still there and was once close to the railway that George helped to develop. The picture below shows some visiting engineers coming to the cottage in 1932 presumably on the diesel train that is in the background. If you look closely at the image there are two people at the doorway to the cottage that look totally out of place for 1932.
Both the 9-mile and 10.5-mile routes start in Throckley, the 9-mile route to the west of the village and the 10.5-mile route to the east. Both routes come south to the River Tyne and pick up Hadrian’s Wall Path and head west passing the cottage where George Stephenson was born. The railway tracks have long ago been lifted and the path is now called Route 72 for cyclists and walkers. Both routes follow the line of the River Tyne through Wylam and as far as Ovingham before crossing the river and turning back east. On the way, they pass Prudhoe Castle which was first built in the 11th century and then continues east to pass over Hagg Bank Bridge a second time before finishing in Wylam.
The third route is a 12-mile route that starts just north of Wylam and heads north to Horsley before crossing the A69 road and heading north to the line of Hadrian’s Wall on the Military Road, the B6318. The route heads west along the Hadrian’s Wall Path for a short distance and passes between a large reservoir before turning south to re-cross the A69 road and walking down through Whittle Dean to Ovingham. From Ovingham the route heads east along the River Tyne to cross Hagg Bank Bridge and the finish in Wylam
So if you fancy a walk close to home and a new one for the club 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 is a picture of Hagg Bank Bridge which is to the west of Wylam.
