Northumberland

Coast 2 Coast, Day Three: Nenthead to Consett. The border between Cumbria and Northumberland was just at the top of the long climb out of Nenthead but the landscape changed immediately to that characteristic bleak but beautiful moorland. A little later, after stopping for cake at the Hemmel Café in Allenheads, we crossed over into County Durham and came down the dramatic Rookhope Burn valley past the old pitheads of the Groverake Mine and then through Stanhope to cross the North Pennines at Crawleyside. We had a roast beef sandwich at the café at Parkhead Station before we left the route to find our guesthouse near Shotley Bridge, praying that it really is all downhill from here…