Kielder weekend

Here at Boot Routes we’re looking to run some themed weekends with plenty of walks thrown in for good measure. These themed weekends include some stargazing weekends, and there’s nowhere better in England for dark skies than Kielder. In fact Kielder Forest and Northumberland National Park have joined forces to become a designated International Dark Sky park, and on a clear night you can see numerous constellations, depending on the time of year you can see the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy and very occasionally the Northern lights. We had previously visited the area to look at where to stay, where to eat, and what walks were available, but we had never managed to visit any of the observatories.

So when Mrs P tells me to book 2 days off work because she’s taking me back to Kielder for a long birthday weekend and that this time our trip includes at least one visit to an observatory my ears prick up and my focus is suddenly on the weather and the clear sky apps.

Day 1 - The day starts with a 2 hour drive from West Yorkshire to Riverside Falconry just outside Newcastle, where Heidi had booked us onto a Hawk Walk. However with Avian Flu on the increase across the UK the captive birds are confined to barracks and are not allowed to be outside. We’re given the option to postpone the walk to a later date, or still visit, but for an indoors session and to meet the birds. Well, we were going to be in the area anyway so we opted for the indoors session and to meet the birds. We arrived slightly early, but the very knowledgeable handler was waiting for us and introduced us to a few of the birds of prey including Ozzie the Kestrel, Pav the Red Kite, and Monty the Eagle Owl. We’re allowed to handle them using well padded gloves and I also managed to get some stunning images, but admittedly I did wonder whether it was ethical or not as we drove on to our next location.

We had a couple of hours before we could check into our hotel for the night, so we drove to Bellingham for a short but pleasant 2.5 mile river walk on the banks of the river North Tyne. Parking at the picnic site car park next to the Fire Station (Grid Ref NY 83447 83342), we headed North for just over a mile before returning the same way. A tad muddy and there was something huge in the water that kept jumping around and had us wondering what on earth it was, my money was on a large Pike chasing smaller fish.

Eventually it was time to head to our hotel for the night, namely the excellent Battlesteads Hotel in the village of Wark near Bellingham. The hotel has a fantastic observatory in its back yard and we were booked into the observatory for an evening session. A lovely meal in the restaurant before the event and a very enjoyable 2 hours spent learning about the moon, northern hemisphere constellations and much, much more. Unfortunately it was raining and we never got chance to look at the stars, but the wet weather alternative was very educational and I even won a meteorite.

Day 2 - Started with an award winning breakfast before we made our way over to Kielder. It was then that we saw the devastation of Storm Arwen. We found that all the Forestry Commission car parks were closed, and most of the footpaths in the area were blocked with fallen trees. We were unable to get to the Red Squirrel hide which had apparently been demolished in the storm, so we had to come up with an alternative plan away from the Forest and returned to Bellingham for a walk up to the Hareshaw Linn waterfalls. From the car park (Grid Ref NY 84033 83483) it was roughly 1.5 miles up the gorge crossing numerous bridges from one side of the river to the other, passing various waterfalls before arriving at the main waterfall. Even in the shelter of the gorge, there was evidence that Storm Arwen had left her mark, with huge trees hanging precariously over the edges of the cliffs. After getting our waterfall fix we headed back the same route stopping to grab some photos of the UK’s smallest bird the Gold Crest, we also saw a few Robin, and a couple of Nuthatch. We then made our way to a little Cafe called Rocky Road in the centre of Bellingham for some coffee and cake.

Heidi had also booked me into an Astro-photography workshop at Kielder observatory at 8.00 pm, so we made our way back over to Kielder. We knew we would be spending the night in the camper van and we were aware that a pub called the Anglers Arms allowed camper vans to stay in their car park. However on entering the bar, it was like a scene from the Slaughtered Lamb in the film An American Werewolf in London, and I could have sworn I could hear banjos in the back ground. The local hillbillies were anything but friendly, and at one point I thought we were going to get lynched for using someone’s darts at the dart board. We had a quick drink, obtained permission from the land lady to use the car park then swiftly left with butt cheeks firmly clenched. There was no way I was going to be anybody’s little piggy.

We drove the short distance to the observatory, arriving in plenty of time and having a light lunch in the van. Then at 8 o’clock I joined about a dozen other budding Astro-photographers for a 3 hour presentation on camera settings, post procedure editing, and a guided tour around the observatory. Again, for the second night in a row it was raining heavily with total cloud cover and there was no chance of seeing anything outside. The presentation though was excellent, I found it educational and very informative.

Afterwards, instead of returning to the car park of the Deliverance Arms, we managed to find the only woodland car park that hadn’t been closed by the Forestry Commission for a night in the camper van. We started watching a film on the laptop, but I never got to see the end of it, and my eyes eventually closed to the sound of rain driving hard against the side of the van, with the wind rocking the van from side to side, and I swear I could still hear a bloody banjo.

Around 4 am I woke up in need of the loo, but I couldn’t hear any rain. On looking outside the skies were clear with no clouds and what seemed like hundreds of thousands of stars. Luckily after the previous nights workshop my camera was perfectly set up for the occasion, and we spent a few hours outside looking upwards, photographing the stars, and counted at least 20 shooting stars. Around sunrise Heidi produced some very welcome crumpets and coffee. I attempted a time lapse on the phone which seemed to work well before the clouds rolled back in and the rain started falling again.

After our fix of stars and sunrise time lapse we made our way back over to Bellingham where Heidi had booked us into a cozy little Shepherds Hut. We unloaded the van, got a fire going in the little stove, then I left Heidi to catch up on her sleep whilst I went for a shortish 5 mile walk. It was a very pleasant walk that took in some moorland, some mixed woodland and a lovely little river section where I discovered a stunning timber lodge that was straight out of a scene from Swiss Family Robinson. There was also plenty of wildlife about including Redwing, Buzzard, Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a solitary Curlew. All too soon I was back at the Hut for a quick shower before heading into Bellingham for a first class meal at the Fountain Cottage Cafe. If the B&B attached to the Cafe is to the same standard then its definitely worth a stay. Absolutely first class food and the Christmas dinner in a Yorkshire pudding wrap was stunning.

Back at the Shepherds Hut we snuggled up for a film with the log fire roaring away in the background, but typically another night of cloud cover so we missed the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. The following morning we watched the sunrise before packing up and heading home stopping for coffee and cake. In all a fantastic birthday treat from Mrs P, and we’re already planning a return to the area.