Tag: cawfields

Wonderful Walks

Posted on January 15, 2024 by - Hadrian's Wall Area Attractions, Northumberland

Walks, we’ve got so many it’s hard to know which ones to tell you about. Northumberland has everything from circular walks to gentle river walks, from coastal walks to woodland walks, a walk along a very long and famous wall and everything in between. In fact it’s estimated that in the Northumberland National Park alone there are over 600 miles of waymarked footpaths and bridleways and that’s without the 4608 square miles of Northumberland that the National park doesn’t include.

The Dilston Trail is one of the three Corbridge Heritage Trails and if you take this walk you will find yourself following the River Tyne and then onto Devil’s Water and with the opportunity to visit the very lovely Dilston Physic Garden (depending on open hours). The walk is around 4 miles long but there are a couple of shortcuts shown in the trail leaflet if you don’t have time for the whole route. You will find the leaflets for all three of the Heritage Trails in the cottage.

alt="Historic Dilston Trail walks signage"
Historic Dilston Trail signage

Cawfields Quarry Circular lies within the Northumberland National Park and begins and ends in the Cawfields Quarry car park. The route takes you through stunning countryside, firstly you’ll head North of Hadrian’s Wall which offers a wonderful view of Cawfields Crags before looping around and then enjoying a stretch on the Hadrian’s Wall National Trail. This is classed as a moderately difficult walk and has steep parts and can be muddy in places, it covers a distance of around 3.5 miles and takes in great examples of a Roman milecastle and Turret en route.

alt="Cawfield Quarry with blue skies above"
Cawfields (c) Geoffrey Braun

The Falstone Circular Walk is a lovely 2 mile walk around dramatic riverbanks, an old railway line and taking in the delights in and around the village of Falstone. The walk follows the now retired Border Countries Railway which transported steam trains in the late 1800s to mid 1900s and as you walk you’ll be able to see the top of Kielder Dam, enjoy fields of open pasture, a hump back bridge and you’ll spot the Stell, a sculpture that was inspired by this Northumbrian village and it’s land. A short walk that allows plenty of time to visit Falstone Tearooms for a well deserved cuppa and cake.

alt="Falstone stell on circular walk"
Falstone Stell – credit and with permission from Andrew Forster

If you’re heading to North Northumberland then a walk that takes in the magnificent coastline is ideal and none more so than the short walk that starts in the fishing village of Craster and takes you to the ruins of the the 14th century Dunstanburgh Castle. The walk allow you to take in the lovely sea views and offers plenty of flora and fauna along the way, it is a flat walk and just under 1.5 miles long. Enjoy time at the castle before either turning around and heading back to Craster or you could choose to carry on further along Embleton Sands to Low Newton and enjoy even more of the wonderful Northumbrian coast.

Fishing village of Craster with Dunstanburgh in the background

If you love being out and about enjoying walks, hikes, rambles or even just a gentle saunter, then St Oswald’s Farm is where you need to be for your next UK staycation, look out for future blog posts with more wonderful walks for you to enjoy!

Perfect Picnics

Posted on July 18, 2022 by - Hadrian's Wall Area Attractions, Northumberland

Nothing says ‘holiday’ more than heading out into the great outdoors with a picnic, so whether you simply throw some crusty bread and cheese in your backpack or you carefully prepare a gourmet basket of goodies, you will find plenty of perfect picnic spots in Northumberland.

National Trust and English Heritage sites are always a great choice for an al fresco lunch with benches, picnic tables and grassy areas aplenty. At Wallington Hall throw down your picnic blanket in the grassy courtyard or saunter off along one of the many walks to find some dappled shade or sit and enjoy the peace and tranquility within the walled garden. A trip to Cragside offers a huge area in which to enjoy your perfect picnic with perhaps some of the best spots being as you navigate The Carriage Drive with lots of lakeside dining areas to choose from and some hidden in the beautiful woodland of the Cragside Estate.

alt="Cragside Nellys moss lake with picnic bench"
Nelly’s Moss – Cragside

A visit to our Northumbrian Market Towns are a great day trip and a picnic can make for a relaxing lunchtime pitstop. Hexham boasts the beautiful Abbey grounds which includes the pretty bowling green surrounded by seating where you can enjoy an outdoor lunch and if you’re lucky you may even be able to enjoy all the sights and sounds of an outdoor bowls match. Carlisle Park in Morpeth is another great destination for a a picnic lunch and this lovely market town also offers the opportunity to stroll along the banks of the River Wansbeck or even row, row, row your boat up the river.

  • Hexham Bowling Green within the Abbey Grounds
  • River Wansbeck in Morpeth – credit H Avery

As far as scenic picnic spots go there can be few better than the dramatic landscape of Hadrian’s Wall, so throw a picnic together and venture out to enjoy some of the wonderful walks this area provides, although with so many wonderful vistas to admire it can be hard to choose. A short 20 minute drive takes you to the very impressive Cawfields which is one of the best preserved stretches of the Wall and provides the opportunity enjoy your packed lunch by the lake or at the sheltered picnic site before burning off some of those calories and taking the scenic walk to Milecastle 42.

Kielder Water & Forest Park covers an area of hundreds of square miles so finding a secluded but picturesque place to picnic is easy. With large grassed areas, picnic tables dotted all over, designated picnic areas and miles and miles of wide open space Kielder is the perfect place to escape and just enjoy the quiet and the vastness of this remote part of Northumberland. The Visit Kielder website is packed full of information on everything that can be enjoyed at Kielder.

  • Kielder Water – image credit Kielderside Waterside
  • Cawfields – credit Geoffrey Braun

Fancy a picnic and a paddle? Well just pick a beach, any beach on the North East coast. All of our Northumberland beaches are heavenly, the whole of our coastline offers wide, sweeping beaches of golden sands that boast to be some of the quietest in the country, there are hidden coves, huge sea views together with pathways, rockpools and dunes, all perfect for a romantic picnic for two. Although I’m afraid we can’t guarantee you won’t get sand in your sandwiches!

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Bamburgh Beach

The beauty of a picnic means you can enjoy one anytime anywhere and you certainly don’t have to travel far to enjoy some open air dining when you stay at St Oswald’s Farm. We invite you to use our farm map and take a walk around our farmland and head to ‘our favourite spot’ on the farm. Brady’s Crag or The Bottom Crag as we call it, is the most perfect place to admire one of the best views from St Oswald’s and it’s a great place to enjoy an evening walk and witness our huge skies and spectacular Northumbrian sunsets. We provide a rug and a backpack in the cottage so all you need to do is chill a bottle of something lovely, grab some glasses and some tasty bites and take the 10 minute walk. We hope you are able to sit back and enjoy what we truly love about where we live.