Skylarks, Seals and Streams (part 3)

 From Seahouses, I headed inland in search of my B&B for the night.  I was grateful for the SatNav, as it steered me via a lot of “B” roads, mostly avoiding the busier “A” routes.   I set Rothbury as a mid-point, and loved the journey over the Northumberland moors – mostly rolling rather than craggy, but high enough that I had quite a few swallowing sessions to clear my ears.  Many of the roads run very straight, and you can see the (little) traffic way ahead at a distance – however, they may be straight but they’re very up-and-down, with sudden dips and crests that sometime leave you feeling airborne as you go over the top.  I love side roads; I like to drive a bit slower and enjoy the process, and I sometimes find myself having to pull to the side in order to let the folks in a hurry get past me.

the river at Rothbury

Wind power is very much a thing, as in Ireland, and there were a lot of the giant windmill turbines in marching lines across the moors. I have mixed feelings – they don’t belong, but they are clean power.  Compromise...

walking at Rothbury

I came down into the Coquet Valley and Rothbury, managed to park the car, and did the river walk which involved picking my way down an uneven set of steps. Once down, I decided I would need to find another route back!  Driving out of town, I was immediately made aware of how deep the valley was, because it was quite a climb to the top!  Once more I drove a series of straight roads (the Roman influence?) until SatNav landed me close to Corbridge, and the A69 which was pretty busy. Rather than staying in Hexham, I’d decided to go a little further on to Haydon Bridge, and to a little B&B I’d stayed in 13 years ago. 

The Reading Rooms, Haydon Bridge

The owners are new, but were very welcoming, and pointed me to a nearby pub where dinner turned out not to be pub-grub, but a very nice meal in a tiny restaurant – a very tasty moussaka, and a lovely cider.  Eating last thing in the day is not a good idea, so once again, I had a river walk – this time down to the river Tyne early on its way to Newcastle and Tynemouth on the east coast.

River Tyne at Haydon Bridge

This has been a 22,000-step day!