Kirkwhelpington to Ridsdale – 15 October 2022
Hey Diddle, Diddle, it’s in the middle. The answer is of course the village of Ridsdale. Get the Data states; Ridsdale is situated roughly centrally between the southernmost and northernmost extremities of Northumberland, and roughly centrally between the easternmost and westernmost extremities of Northumberland. So now we know where it is we just need to drive along the A696 towards Kirkwhelpington and start the walks.
Ridsdale has a couple of other claims to fame. it had one of the shortest-lived ironworks in the county and perhaps even the country from 1836 until 1848. All that remains now are the ruins of a very large engine house just to the north of Ridsdale. Before it closed it managed to supply some pig iron that was used in the construction of the High Level Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Its other claim to fame is that it is only one of three community owed pubs in Northumberland. Of the other two, one is in Old Ryton Village (Olde Cross), and the second is in Slaley (Rose & Crown). There is a third community owned pub in Horncliffe but it is waiting for re-development. The one in Ridsdale is called The Gun which was purchased and renovated by the community in 2020 and officially opened in May 2021. The Gun is not just a pub, it has accommodation and a coffee shop.
So for this day out, which, incidentally starts our winter walks, there are three routes to choose from. The 9-mile and 11-mile routes both get off the coach at Kirkwhelpington. The 9-mile route heads southwest and goes around Sweethope Loughs before heading over Great Wanney Crag and coming into Ridsdale from the north. The 11-mile route heads south along a section of St Oswald’s Way to Great Bavington before turning north and then northwest over Great Wanney Crag and into Ridsdale. The 10-mile route gets off the coach on a minor road leading across to the A68 and heads west towards Linnheads and East Woodburn before crossing the A68 and looping around to the finish in Ridsdale.
So if you fancy a trip to roughly the centre of Northumberland and a visit to a community pub and 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 during a walk to West Woodburn in October 2016. West Woodburn is a village just north of Ridsdale on the A68 road.
