So to the last full day of our holiday in north Northumberland, and we didn't choose to have a relaxing one. In fact, we walked around 7 miles with a considerable amount of ascent and descent which lasted around five and a half hours.
Last time we came up to stay in Beadnell we visited the National Trust site at Cragside over near Rothbury, about a 45 minute drive away. On that occasion we walked around much of the estate below the house, visited the formal gardens and also went around the house. So this time we had no intentions of visiting the house, we would leave that to the 'tourists' but instead would take in more of the 40 miles of paths snaking around the estate.
There's a clue in the name of the estate which gives you a good idea of the sort of terrain on which it resides. Not surprisingly much of it is on the sides of large crag nestled amongst the outskirts of the Cheviot Hills, very heavily wooded with local trees, and others from all over the globe. Our route would take us uphill to reach Nelly's Moss lakes, then skirt around the edge of the estate, over the river in the bottom and back up the other side to see the formal gardens a couple of months earlier than we saw them last year.
We were stunned when we reached the lakes at the top of the hill, they were absolutely stunning, It was really quiet up there, is this what heaven looks like? It's hard to describe how beautiful these lakes were, ringed by trees and craggy rock formations, and parts of the lake covered by stunningly coloured vegetation. The walk up was well worth it. It was at the end of the second lake where we decided to grab a bench and have lunch, and just enjoy the view.
On our route back down hill we ventured into the Labyrinth, yes thankfully we made it out but you can just imagine how some people may take quite a while to find their way back to humanity. It was very easy to go round in circles in this heavy vegetation, and rather muddy underfoot in places as the sun would rarely reach the ground due to how dense it was. Obviously having new boots I spent half of the time trying to keep out of the mud and moaning when I went in it!
As we passed by the house we stopped for a 5 minute sit down and to have a drink before heading to the far side of the gorge where we visited the Powerhouse which had various interactive demonstrations of how electricity was generated on the estate to power the house, to be honest although some of the exhibits in here were mainly for kids, we really enjoyed it.
Now back up the path and a visit to the formal gardens, stunning again and for the second time this week I started to enjoy seeing and smelling Roses, not a flower that I've ever really liked before but the smells of some of them are divine; easy to get addicted to if you're not careful. The last section took us back around the pump house and archimedes screw and up the hill to the car. We would leave lots more of the estate until we return.
Now we had planned to go out tonight for our first meal out of the week, but neither of us were that keen about getting back and then getting ready to go out, so BLT's would be the order of the day and top off another great week.
Last time we came up to stay in Beadnell we visited the National Trust site at Cragside over near Rothbury, about a 45 minute drive away. On that occasion we walked around much of the estate below the house, visited the formal gardens and also went around the house. So this time we had no intentions of visiting the house, we would leave that to the 'tourists' but instead would take in more of the 40 miles of paths snaking around the estate.
There's a clue in the name of the estate which gives you a good idea of the sort of terrain on which it resides. Not surprisingly much of it is on the sides of large crag nestled amongst the outskirts of the Cheviot Hills, very heavily wooded with local trees, and others from all over the globe. Our route would take us uphill to reach Nelly's Moss lakes, then skirt around the edge of the estate, over the river in the bottom and back up the other side to see the formal gardens a couple of months earlier than we saw them last year.
We were stunned when we reached the lakes at the top of the hill, they were absolutely stunning, It was really quiet up there, is this what heaven looks like? It's hard to describe how beautiful these lakes were, ringed by trees and craggy rock formations, and parts of the lake covered by stunningly coloured vegetation. The walk up was well worth it. It was at the end of the second lake where we decided to grab a bench and have lunch, and just enjoy the view.
On our route back down hill we ventured into the Labyrinth, yes thankfully we made it out but you can just imagine how some people may take quite a while to find their way back to humanity. It was very easy to go round in circles in this heavy vegetation, and rather muddy underfoot in places as the sun would rarely reach the ground due to how dense it was. Obviously having new boots I spent half of the time trying to keep out of the mud and moaning when I went in it!
As we passed by the house we stopped for a 5 minute sit down and to have a drink before heading to the far side of the gorge where we visited the Powerhouse which had various interactive demonstrations of how electricity was generated on the estate to power the house, to be honest although some of the exhibits in here were mainly for kids, we really enjoyed it.
Now back up the path and a visit to the formal gardens, stunning again and for the second time this week I started to enjoy seeing and smelling Roses, not a flower that I've ever really liked before but the smells of some of them are divine; easy to get addicted to if you're not careful. The last section took us back around the pump house and archimedes screw and up the hill to the car. We would leave lots more of the estate until we return.
Now we had planned to go out tonight for our first meal out of the week, but neither of us were that keen about getting back and then getting ready to go out, so BLT's would be the order of the day and top off another great week.
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