This Is The Way: the 'St Notswald's Way'.

[Blimey. Just realised I haven't posted on here in nearly two years! A lot of stuff's gone on since that last one, some big and some little, and most of it's gone recorded as shortform posts and pictures on Facebook or Insta. This trip I think warrants something a touch longer, so here we are...]

What's the Mike Tyson quote: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" ? The oddly-named St Notswalds Way ride was a bit like that to start with - a trip borne out of a plan going awry. Sometime in mid-2024 I'd signed up to run with clubmates from Abbey Runners (and friends) for four days on the St Oswalds Way, from Heavenfield near Hexham to Holy Island. Until December I was going really nicely, running well, a few minor niggles but nothing show stopping, and was looking forward to a few days of long, steady, scenic trail running as a build towards other stuff later in the year. But, best laid plans and all that…

January snows and February races put paid to that original idea, when those minor hip niggles became foot issues as well, and plantar fasciitis curtailed any running. Other health issues pushed the recovery timeline back even further, and the long-earned fitness I’d built over a couple of years of consistent running dwindled. When it became obvious that the best part of 100 miles of running over four days wasn’t going to be a goer, I started trying to work out other things to do with my time. There was quite a lot of money sunk into accommodation that I likely wasn’t going to be able to get back, and time booked off work that I really wanted to use, even though it was almost immediately after another trip (kayaking in Slovenia) - there’s a lot of stressful stuff going on in the NHS at the moment and I wanted the downtime.

Handily, another clubmate had volunteered to drive a minibus in support of the runners, which meant I had the option of baggage transfer each day - nicer than riding with full panniers for multiple changes of kit. I’d need to sort getting to the start in Hexham and back from Berwick since putting the bike in the minibus wasn’t really an option except in case of emergency, but with enough planning in advance the train tickets worked out as £30 each way and free bike reservations for the LNER bits were easy to get hold of. The train journey up to Hexham was uneventful, and I arrived at the Travelodge just ahead of the minibus. Bags dropped and off to The Tannery for dinner and a pint - felt strange being in there any time other than a Tyne Tour, but the food was good and plentiful and it was nice to be away.

Day 1: Hexham to Rothbury; 59km, 1070m ascent

Some of the runners decided to partake of Tyne Green parkrun, which seemed an interesting choice, given what else they were doing that day - I opted not to and just took a few pictures before I set off on the bike and they got bussed up to Heavenfield to start their run. I knew this was going to be the hardest day on the bike, and it felt like I was pedalling uphill for the majority of it, which when you look at the elevation profile I pretty much was. The majority of the day was spent in lovely sunshine but with a cold wind, which seemed to always inconveniently be right in my face. Some nice quiet lanes and the odd bit of mainly rideable bridleway (one horrid chunky washed out section being the notable exception) got me to midway and a coffee and a sausage sarnie at the Running Fox bakery at Kirkharle courtyard in fairly short order.

The afternoon section involved a lot of reminiscing about ‘the argoyle gargoyles’ - the four dragon head sculptures on the lawn of Wallington Hall - and how much excitement they used to generate when we drove past them when I was a kid. I stopped and had a good look at them, which I’m not sure I ever had before, and ended up having an in-depth conversation with a small child who told me they were real dragons who’d got frozen into stone. On from there and back off road onto forest tracks, the long, straight, gradually ascending drag through Harwood Forest was briefly enlivened by seeing an adder on the gravel - closer inspection revealed it to be sadly dead, presumably squashed by a forestry lorry - before a lovely cruisy descent down from Simonside into Rothbury and the first nights accommodation at the Turks Head. The runners were still a fair way away - they were finishing at Harwood with Peter picking them up and driving them to town - so I sat in the sun outside the pub with a quick half.

Day 2: Rothbury to Warkworth via Druridge Bay; 50km, 510m ascent

A cold day, originally slated to be my shortest on the bike but extended to take in extra tea stops and ensure I wasn’t going to be arriving hours ahead of the runners. The early riding was pleasant, some old railway line out of Rothbury was really pretty and easy to spin along but marked off as private part way along - though amendment notices at either end seem to indicate it being modified to be a bridleway. I diverted off, somewhat naughtily, along a footpath since I wasn’t sure what the lesser of two evils was in this case. Somewhere down the way the cloud cover rolled over and a few scattered light showers appeared, so I paused and put the waterproofs on, and they stayed on for a good chunk of the day. Lunch at another Running Fox bakery place at Felton - excellent pie, even more excellent flapjack - warmed me back up a touch, and I tweaked the route on my Garmin to swap some road out for bridleway and to divert south a touch down to Druridge Bay since the sun was coming back out a bit. While I'd not looked into the trails that much, this bit worked out great, some really nice gravel bridleways and track, and pretty soon I was at the top end of Druridge Bay and headed south briefly down the beach with the wind behind me and the wind blowing waves of dry sand ahead of me - the wave effect was pretty amazing, and I tried to catch it on video while riding one handed:

(First time I've ever loaded a video into a blog. If it doesn't work, try again later...)

The wind was still pretty chilly, so I heaed to the visitor centre for a brief pitstop for a cup of tea and a sit down before a lap of Ladyburn Lake, including riding through the spillway and getting my feet a bit wet. After that brief diversion I headed North and into the headwind again, though with the waterproofs off, with a definite next stop in mind: Spurelli’s ice cream shop in Amble. Two scoops - one mango & passion fruit, one pistachio - plus a double espresso perked me right up for the very short, very gentle spin up to Warkworth and a quick sit with a half (again) in the sun outside the Sun Hotel while listening to their bar singer and waiting for the runners, who appeared not long after.

Day 3: Warkworth to Seahouses; 41km, 390m ascent

Day three is usually where a bit of pain sets in, mainly in the saddle region, so I was glad that it was my shortest, easiest day of riding. I gave the runners an hour's head start then grabbed my bike out of the shed at the hotel and bimbled off to try and catch them up. The first bit of riding was just down to the dunes to see whether any beach riding would be a goer or not, but the tide was too far in for it to work, so I headed back onto the road and then onto a slightly random seeming bridleway through the middle of a... well, I can't even call it a 'caravan site', really. 'A seemingly random collection of static caravans in the dunes' fits better - sure it's a lovely place to have a caravan but it seemed a bit odd. Anyway, the trail from here was some lovely singletrack riding, some of the nicest of the trip, though I nearly came a cropper on a loose sandy section on a downhill. Diverting back inland to get round the estuary at Alnmouth was fine, there's a very good cycleway, and soon I was in the village and parking my bike up to a make a short detour on foot to bag a trig pillar, because why not?

The next section was pretty familiar from the Northumberland Coastal Run last year, quiet road up to Boulmer and then good trail along the coast towards Howick. There were a couple of places where I had to hop off the bike and push - a bloke held a gate open for me but the two foot step off the back of it probably would have had me over the bars - but the vast majority was lovely riding. Just after a little footbridge the trail splits with the path we ran on the NCR being footpath and the bridleway diverting up onto a farm track and then out onto road again. Close to Craster I caught a glimpse of the runners as they chugged up a short rise through gorse bushes, so thought I'd divert slightly off my ride route to catch them in the village for some lunch, which was fortunate since my intended stop at the Stableyard cafe at Craster Tower wasn't open! I met them at the pub, but with it being so busy we headed to the catering van at the car park for a crab butty and a cuppa, and a good sit in the sunshine.

Setting off again I went to have a look at the coastal path to see whether it was rideable - I remembered running that way on the NCR and thinking it would be a lovely grassy track to ride - but explicit ‘No Cycling’ signs on the gate at the end of the village meant a no-go. The alternate route along a concrete farm track was quite nice though, and gave a great view onto Dunstanburgh Castle and out to sea, and from Dunstan Steads itself I reckoned the tide would be out enough to drop onto the beach. I crossed over with the runners as I headed down across the golf course, then pedalled steadily up the sands trying to avoid the soft sinky bits, all the way to Low Newton. I was tempted by a drink at The Ship Inn - my Dad always raves about it when they stay locally - but onwards it was, up the road into High Newton, back down the road to Newton Links and back onto the beach for a steady spin up to Beadnell and an ice cream before the last bit of road into Seahouses. Staying at The Olde Ship Inn for the night meant good food and a very short walk down to the harbour to watch the sunset over Bamburgh and the Farnes, and remind me I do need to get a boat (or kayak) trip out there to see the puffins at some point!

Day 4: Seahouses to Berwick-upon-Tweed via Holy Island; 60km, 580m ascent

Last day, longest day, best day, most indecisive day: take your pick. With the runners finishing on Holy Island but me needing to ride the extra 10 miles or so to Berwick, I dithered over my route a bit, whether to go out onto Lindisfarne or not. Again, I gave the runners an hour’s head start and then spun gently out of Seahouses, feeling pretty good despite the 3 days and 150km of riding already in the legs and backside. Easy road up to Bamburgh then a nice bit of bridleway round Budle Point, stopping in an old gun emplacement and looking out over Budle Bay, then over to Belford where a cafe stop had already been agreed. In hindsight I’d re-route this bit, as my plan ended up with me climbing sharply from the A1 into the centre of the village, then dropping down a long way to the Sunnyhills cafe, only to have to climb back up into the centre of the village again - if I’d looked at where the cafe was, I’d have only had to do the climb once, but hey ho. (NB - if the other cafe in the village wasn’t strictly cash only I might have stopped there, but I didn’t have any cash on me!). More easy road through Detchant and Fenwick, looking at the Sandstone Way signs and recognising bits I rode with Dad a few years back (though opting not to run up to Greensheen Hill trig this time), and a brief stop by a small block of woodland full of lovely bluebells.

I was soon down at Beal having coffee with Mike and Peter and debating whether I would ride over onto Holy Island for completeness or just head straight up the coast. The running group were getting picked up from Holy Island once they'd crossed and finished at the Priory, whereas I had another hour-and-a-half's ride to Berwick to finish my day. I decided that it was worth the ride over, even if it was just a spin along the causeway and road, and I'll honestly say I'm glad I did. As I got to the causeway, there were 3 seals basking on the sands to one side next to the South Low and a couple of Little Egrets lurking around to the other side. I stopped to take a few pics - none very good - and rode gently onwards. As I got level with the first walkers refuge box, a message came through on the group chat that the runners were only a mile away, so I wheeled out onto the sands, parked the bike up, climbed up into the refuge tower, and sat and waited for them.

As they arrived, I decided to roll/walk across the sands with them. While I've walked it a couple of times riding it would be different, and the good weather plus the presumably low high-tide preceding our crossing meant that even the normally muddy bits were fairly solid under foot and wheel. I rode alongside the runners, having a great laugh and taking a few pics on my phone, then on the wettest part near towards the island, took off my shoes and paddled along. Once we reached Chare Ends, I opted to split off and start my last section of the ride up to Berwick while they headed for the Priory to finish, plus get celebratory ice cream, coffee, mead etc etc. I guess bouyed by the lovely atmosphere and enjoyment of the Pilgrims Path crossing, I had a fantastic last few miles: the trails were lovely, warm, dry, pleasant, fairly flat; I was in a great mood; and surprisingly, for being the best part of 200km of riding in, my legs felt pretty good. I stopped to take a few more pics in places, but very very soon, Berwick was in view at the end of the bay, then I was closing in on town and the 'Lowry Lighthouse' at the end of the pier was in view, then I was rolling steadily over the old bridge and onto the harbourside. There's a signpost here that for my Dad and I was the start of the Sandstone Way and the end of the 'Missing Link' ride, joining the John Muir Way to the Sandstone Way, and now it became the end of the St Notswalds Way for me as well - and well in time to get checked in to the YHA, showered and changed before a celebratory beer with the whole group at The Curfew and a curry!

Thanks for reading - bit of a long travelogue this time, but hey.
See you out there.