Wooler to Belford – 30 April 2022
On our last trip out on the 16th April, all three routes came along the Teesdale Way to Barnard Castle. This time it is similar paths but different routes that we are taking. We are off to Wooler to walk along a section of St Cuthbert’s Way until we turn away from the official route to finish at Belford. The last time we walked along this route was back in October 2017 and it has always been an area where we usually walk in winter so it might be quite nice to see it in the Spring.
St Cuthbert’s Way is a long-distance route of 62.5 miles (100 km) which starts in Melrose, Scotland and finishes on Holy Island. If you were planning to do the whole route over five days you would be doing the Wooler to Fenwick section on day four and covering 11.5 miles (19 km). Our routes follow St Cuthbert’s Way from Wooler as far as St Cuthbert’s Cave. From here St Cuthbert’s Way heads away to the north where our routes turn southeast to finish at Belford.
We have walked various sections of St Cuthbert’s Way over the years and have very rarely seen other walkers on it, perhaps it has been the time of year but regardless, a lot of the long-distance paths do not start getting busy until May so we may still have the majority of this route to ourselves.
The longest route at 12-miles gets off the coach just outside Wooler and heads uphill to a farm called Coldmartin then comes down beside the radio mast that overlooks Wooler where it picks up St Cuthbert’s Way and follows it as far as St Cuthbert’s Cave. From the cave, the route heads southeast past Swinhoe Farm and into Belford. The 11.5-mile route follows St Cuthbert’s Way out of Wooler and then picks up the 12-mile route to Belford. Finally, the 9.5-mile route starts on the B6348 road at Weetwood Bridge and heads to St Cuthbert’s Cave. From the cave, it heads southeast past Swinhoe Farm and passes underneath Sunnyside Crag and then into Belford.
If you fancy a similar path but maybe a different route 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 taken in October 2017 as one of the groups approached St Cuthbert’s Cave.
