The Wannie Line – Feb 2023

£15.00

Date: Saturday 18 February 2023
Start time: 10:00 am
Distance: 8 miles
Difficulty: Moderate

Event Expired

Description

The Wannie Line

Wannie_Line_Recce - Wannie_Line_Recce_16052019-6.jpg Wannie Line

The Wannie Line or what was once the Wansbeck Railway is a great walk that is conveniently close to Newcastle.  It is situated in the Wallington Estate and is mostly made up of permissive path, provided by National Trust Wallington.

Details

Hills: General - AscentKey0-98x27 No hills
Distance: General - DistanceKey1-98x27 Medium distance
Grade: General - GradeKey1-98x27 Easy to moderate (stiles and some short slopes)
Map: General - OL42-KielderWaterForest-Map-thumb
This walk is on map Explorer OL42 Kielder Water & Forest. Click on map image to buy this map.
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The start

It starts in the car park of the former National Trust Regional Office, in Scots’ Gap.  From here there is a short path down onto the line itself.

Wannie_Line_Recce - Wannie_Line_Recce_16052019-1.jpg Wannie Line

Even though we start on the Wannie Line, we don’t stay on it for long before we take the Rothbury branch.  This route takes us North.  The Rothbury branch used to go all the way to Rothbury and is the same railway that we have walked there.

Walking along old railway lines is some of the best there is.  They are relatively level and you don’t have to worry about traffic or trains, as they haven’t ran here since the 1960s.  They are also very peaceful places and full of flora and fauna.

Wannie_Line_Recce - Wannie_Line_Recce_16052019-5.jpg Wannie Line

Leaving the Rothbury Branch

About 1.5 miles up the track, we leave the Rothbury Branch to take a path over to the Wannie Line.  This path starts by following the Delf Burn into Delf Plantation, which is a lovely path along a wooded valley.

The path emerges onto farm land and a quarry where limestone must have been mined, to go directly into the adjacent lime kilns.  Continuing along an old lane near Gallows Hill farm, we cross a road and then take a path though more fields before rejoining the railway.

Wannie_Line_Recce - Wannie_Line_Recce_16052019-9.jpg Wannie Line

The Wannie Line

The Wannie Line part of the walk is different to the Rothbury Branch.  The Rothbury Branch part is mainly on embankments but the Wannie Line is different.  Much of this part is level with the surrounding area, so runs directly through fields, although the old track bed can still be seen.

Wannie_Line_Recce - Wannie_Line_Recce_16052019-12.jpg Wannie Line

The first part of this leg is through a cutting, which has been taken over by trees.  Along the rest of the line the farm animals have no regard for history and the line is just another food source. There is about 2 miles of this railway before we arrive back where we started.

Hope to see you there.

Julie and Martin x

Gallery


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Location

This shows the start location for this walk.

Nearest postcode: NE61 4DB
OS Grid Reference: NZ 03693 86465
What3words: ///caller.arrive.prospers
Toilets: There are no public toilets close to this walk.
Directions: From Newcastle, take the A696 to Belsay. Just as you leave the village, take the road signposted for Scot’s Gap. Follow this road until you emerge at a T-Junction. Turn left onto the B6343. From Morpeth, tale teh B6343 to Scot’s Gap. Go through Scot’s Gap village. Look out on your right for a large disused house. Drive through the entrance and head for the back of the house. This is the car park for the Wannie Line walk.
Parking: The car park at the back of the former National Trust Regional Office in Scots’ Gap.