Thrunton Woods - Castle Hill Circular

Julia Ewart

You need to log in as a member of Walkingworld to access the details for this walk and have an active subscription. Please join, or log in above if you are already a member.

Along the forest tracks we venture into Thrunton Woods, where along with woodland paths we skirt Humbleton Hill to reach Castle Hill, the site of a prehistoric fort. Leaving here, we visit the hand-made cave of Macartney, a nineteenth century monk from nearby Callaly, which was used as a solitary retreat, before a gentle climb up onto Callaly Crags via the stoned gully of Hob's Nick, named after the hobgoblins, who as superstitions have it were blamed for the numerous disasters in the area. Walking along the ridge we pass a moorland lake, then go along the top of Thrunton Crags and through more woodland to reach the end of our walk, which is great for dogs.

England - North England - Northumberland - Woodland or Forest

Features

Ancient Monument, Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Good for Kids, Great Views, Lake/Loch, Moor, Wildlife, Woodland

6/27/2015 - alison scott

Did this walk today. The woods were lovely but this made navigation difficult as we were unable to find the tracks/paths as described, particularly in the first 4parts. There was some conflict with the instruction to turn right in number 3. It was unclear how far on from the marker post the right turn was and it seemed to conflict with the map.We did find the Castle Hill but the sign for it is no longer on the wicket gate. The path described in 7 is difficult to find and very overgrown and the climb up the hill is very steep and a long climb- not for the unfit! It reaches Hob's Nick not Hard Nab as stated in the instructions. I feel this walk needs considerable updating as we never saw a lake or moorland as described in 8 or a green arrow- has it all become overgrown with the way markers taken away. I would suggest some indication of distances between turnings would help to establish where they are. My group can all read maps and compasses but with the trees hiding viewpoints it was difficult to establish where we were and the instructions were far from clear and in some areas appeared to conflict with the actual area so we became confused on several occasions on this walk which spoiled the enjoyment of what should have been a lovely, interesting walk

10/16/2012 - Debbie Seton

We did this walk whilst spending a few days in nearby Warkworth, which is a lovely little place. I'll start by saying that we aren't the fittest walkers, nor blessed with the best sense of direction / navigation skills, plus we didn't know the area. You'll probably be able to guess from that preamble that all did not go well for us... Firstly, there is no postcode for the sat nav to get to the start of this walk and we did struggle somewhat finding it. It felt like it was further away from Morpeth than the instructions seemed to indicate and New Moor House is quite small and with a very small name sign, so not easy for a tourist to get their bearings. Anyway, my best advice is to keep the faith as you drive north of Morpeth on the A697 by maybe going a bit further than you think you need to and Thrunton Woods themselves (and the turn left in the instructions) are clearly signposted if you keep your eyes open. We did also struggle when we arrived as we couldn't see a red / orange waymark in the main car park. There is a red route marked through the woods although I'm not sure all the waymarks are in place... We started fairly faithfully to the route as we could identify it from the photographs, but we definitely went wrong at least once during the walk, if not more often. I was horrified at one point to discover that we had to scramble up a fairly steep bank that I don't think we should have come across, but who knows - we are sometimes so useless at following the instructions. I overcame my horror though and having got all the way to the top and paused to take my asthma reliever, I felt pretty proud of making it up there!Amazing views in places although we didn't see or hear very much wildlife at all, although we were there at midday. Saw quite a few horse riders and a school party at the start of the walk and only a couple of other walkers on the way around. This is our first 'moderate' WW walk since joining last year, so we are making progress on the fitness front, even though navigation skills seem to be developing more slowly ;o)

11/12/2011 - Pat McTiernan

Excellent walk! Do this in the very early morning and you will come across a variety of wildlife.

6/8/2010 - Brian Steele

This is a lovely walk but the waymarkers have been removed once you leave the forest. After you reach waymark 7 return to the style and follow the path as it contours along the side of the hill and then starts to climb to reach Hard Nab, a cleft in the rocks. Through this you reach a broad track. Turn left to reach the small lake (8). Pick up the instructions from here