Across the border

The plan was to pack a picnic lunch and go to Rothbury, where MrM would drop off Vanessa and I while he went off for an hour or so on his ‘squirrel duties’ in the woods nearby. Then we would spend the rest of the afternoon at Cragside. But we set off rather later than hoped, mainly due to a very disturbed night (MrM was suffering from indigestion and, later on, a painful back…) and we both found it difficult to get going in the morning.

Anyway, V and I spent a very pleasant hour wandering around Rothbury and looking round the small art gallery, had some refreshments in the cafe, and then walked by the river for quite a distance. To cut a long story short, V and I went back to the cafe for lunch, and eventually met up with MrM who had spent much longer than anticipated tramping through the woods. By that time it was too late to go to Cragside, so MrM drove us to Holystone, where we had a short walk to the Lady’s Well, and then we drove across the military ranges to Chew Green, where there was once a Roman marching fort and, before that, a mediaeval village. From there we walked up to the Border Ridge and each posed for photos with one foot on either side of the English/Scottish border, as you do! 

We enjoyed our picnic tea with a scenic view down into the valley. Shortly after heading for home, on the road to Alwinton, the car suddenly started making a very loud noise. A very flat tyre! Luckily, a very kind stranger stopped a helped MrM to change the tyre and we were soon on our way again after a lovely day out.