Activation History |
Summary,
Shillhope Law lies well into Upper Coquetdale, a very picturesque area of
Northumberland well away from civilisation, but very popular with walkers,
cyclists and others who enjoy getting out into the country away from it
all.
|
Looking across the bridge
over the Coquet at Weder Leap towards Shillhope Law |
However the area is also a major military training area so the peace can
often be disturbed by the sound of small arms fire, or even much heavier
weaponry. On your route to Shillhope Law, you will see at regular
intervals, military warning and no entry signs on the left side of the road
and the river Coquet, along with numerous red flags. These indicate the
perimeter of the live firing area and while you may still find armed troops
in action on the other side of the road and the river Coquet, their weapons
will carry yellow attachments that signify only blank firing. You may even
be stopped by troops to check whether you are part of their exercise. A
characteristic of the area is sometimes the large number of spent blank
ammunition cases amongst which there may occasionally be found one which
failed to fire. If accompanied by children, the general advice is not to
allow them to collect or play with spent ammunition cases just in case there
is an unfired one amongst them. At certain times of year, approaching
Christmas, at lambing time (mid April-mid May), and on about two weekends
a month, there are non-firing days and on these days the red flags will
come down and access to the MOD area, on certain roads, bridleways and footpaths
is permitted. Two publications, Public Access Guide, Otterburn Training
Area and Upper Coquet Valley Access Guide, have been prepared jointly by
the MOD and the National Park Authority and these can be obtained from National
Park Information Centres, although they are sometimes like gold dust to
obtain. In the last few years the MOD has adopted more visitor friendly
approach, installing information boards at several points around the
ranges and a website
provides more information.Most of the area around Shillhope Law, indeed much of upper Coquetdale became "open country" following the implementation of CRoW in May 2005. However
there are quite a number of small areas that are not included in the
"open country" and they ought to be
fairly obvious as they tend to be enclosed fields. There are such areas
both at Barrowburn and at Shillmoor, but these do not affect the suggested
routes.
VHF activation with at least a half wave antenna, is practicable with
good signals passing down the Coquet valley into the Northumberland and
Tyneside areas. Summit to summit is possible with other SB summits,
LD, NP some SS and possibly SP.
|
Back to SB Home
Next SB Summit
Previous SB Summit
|
Getting There,
From the south there are two options depending
on your starting point:
- Take the A697 north off the A1 just north of Morpeth, passing through
the Northumberland village of Longhorsley. About 2½ miles north of Longhorsley
after quite a long downhill run, in the dip before a long steady rise
toward the village of Longframlington, take the B6344 left for Rothbury.
Continue on the B6344 to the village of Rothbury where just as you come
into Rothbury the road number changes to the B6341. Pass straight through
Rothbury and the next village of Thropton and about 1.8 miles
after Thropton where the B6341 turns left, a minor road, which you take,
signposted for Alwinton, Harbottle, and Sharperton continues almost
straight ahead. Continue on this road through Sharperton, Thropton,
and into the village of Alwinton ignoring all other side roads. Arriving
in Alwinton the road turns left, passes the Rose and Thistle on the
left, and the National Park Car Park on the right, a convenient place
for a toilet stop. From Alwinton onward this road is for some of the
time a dead end at Chew Green after another 12 miles. However in
recent years, provided the red flag at Chew Green is not flying
(regardless of other red flags) the road up to middle golden pot and
then down to the A68 via Cottonshope is open to traffic . Long
before Chew Green, for Shillhope
Law there are two suggested starting points, the first you will come
to at Shillmoor, just over 3 miles from Alwinton and the second
just before Barrowburn from a car park on the left about 5.6 miles beyond
Alwinton.
- From the A1 Newcastle Western Bypass take the slip road signposted
for the A696 to Jedburgh and Ponteland, and proceed along this dual
carriageway past Newcastle Airport, where the dual carriage way ends,
through Ponteland and the village of Belsay, past Kirkwhelpington and
the Knowesgate Motel, till at the hamlet of Raylees 14 miles beyond
Belsay, you take a right turn off the A696 into a minor road signposted
for Elsdon. If you wish to avoid this minor road which is quite narrow,
you can continue on the A696 for a further 1.9 miles, where you make
a very sharp right turn into the B6341 signposted for Elsdon and Rothbury.
From Elsdon follow the directions from the north west immediately below.
From the north west take the A68 south
passing through Jedburgh, past the Catcleugh reservoir and through the Redesdale
Forest. Just over 2 miles after passing through Rochester, in a very
short section of dual carriageway, the A68 branches off to the right and
the road straight ahead, on which you continue, becomes the A696. Two miles
south of this, you will come into the village of Otterburn and about a mile
further on, where the A696 turns to the right, continue straight ahead onto
the B6341 for Elsdon and Rothbury. At Elsdon continue to follow the
B634 which bears left up the hill at the far end of the village. Continue
on the B6341 through the Grasslees Valley and watch out for a road on the
left after about 5 miles from Elsdon and shortly after a National Park car
Park, that you should take, signposted for Holystone. After just over
three miles on this road and after passing through Holystone you will come
to a T junction where you turn left. Your are now on the road toward Harbottle
and Alwinton as detailed above from the south, so follow those directions
above.
The Otterburn Ranges website suggests that the Cottonshope road will
be open most of the year, although several times I have been there it
has been closed. Shortly after passing the Catcleugh reservoir and
Byrness, there is a signposted road on your left at Low Byrness for the
military ranges. The website indicates that if there is no red flag at
this point then access to the coquet valley via the Cottonshope Road up
to Middle Golden Pot and then left down Dere Street to Chew Green is
possible. From there you simply follow the road down the valley past
Makendon, Fullhope, Blindburn, Carlcroft, Carshope and will arrive at
Wedder Leap car park just after Barrowburn. So it is worth
checking whether there is a red flag flying on the post at Low Byrness.
Of course a week either side of Christmas and from mid April to mid May
the ranges are normally open, so the route should be open.
From the north east take the A1 south to
Alnwick and just after the road opens to a dual carriageway, take the slip
road up the ramp and turn right across the bridge toward Alnwick.
You have to follow signs toward the centre of Alnwick but keep an eye out
for signs for the B6341 to Rothbury and take that road. Just over
6½ miles from the outskirts of Alnwick there is a crossroads of the B6341
with the A697. Continue straight across this which will take you into Rothbury
and from here follow the first option directions as from the south above.
Suggested Approach,
For this summit there are two routes popular with walkers and some walking routes traverse Shillhope Law going up one
|
The trig point surrounded by a cairn on the summit of Shillhope Law |
of these and down the other.
Shillmoor Approach: approx
walk in 1.65 miles 2.65km
There is space for parking at the side of the road beside the cluster of
houses at Shillmoor NT 88545 07760. From there take the old road that passes
between the houses and then take the left fork when it branches shortly
after. Thereafter simply follow the track up to Inner Hill, across the ridge,
then up to the summit of Shillhope Law. In fact there are now
several quad bike tracks heading up the last part of the hill and most
will lead to the summit. The trig point here is surrounded
by a hollow cairn so careful positioning can offer some shelter from the
wind.
Barrowburn Approach:
approx walk in 0.85 miles 1.37km
There is a car park at NT 8663 1033, Wedder Leap, just before Barrowburn
in the grounds of what was originally a school. However this parking
facility is under threat as the MOD may wish to use the site for other
purposes, so it may disappear. From the car park, cross the road and
then the river over the bridge at NT 8667 1042. Head straight across the
edge of the trees and after going through the gate turn right (south).
Cross the shoulder of the hill, aiming for the obvious valley with a
fence on your right. You will see a fence in front of you which is
topped with barbed wire but at NT 8702 1017 there is a small wooden step
(not exactly a stile) which will allow you to cross safely. Continue up
the valley following the line of the fence till you meet a quad bike
track and a gate through the fence where you turn right to follow the
track up to the summit.
GPS Route Download,
Shillmoor Approach:
Download Garmin Mapsource
GDB format »
Download Memory Map format »
Barrowburn Approach:
Download Garmin Mapsource
GDB format »
Download Memory Map format »
Post Summit Retreat,
For refreshments after activation, the Rose and Thistle in Alwinton
serves food at lunchtime except on Mondays when it is closed at lunchtime
apart from Bank Holidays and is very used to walkers as probably most of
its daytime customers are outdoor enthusiasts. A short distance further
down the valley at Harbottle, the Star Inn is a favourite evening haunt
of many of the local shepherds. Considerably further down the valley at
Thropton, the Cross Keys on the left as you climb out of the village on
the other/eastern side has a reputation for its varied fish menu, and the
landlady has been known to conjure up fish and chips late into the afternoon
for starving walkers. Of course if your return trip takes you back
through Rothbury, there is always the Newcastle Hotel that is recommended
on the SB-007 Tosson Hill and SB-008 Long Crag pages.
Last updated 12th June 2009
|