Amble to Cambois

With a diversion through Newbiggin today's ride took me from Amble to Cambois and back along NCN1.

The cycle path isn't far from a number of former collieries and colliery villages. At each end are ports used for export of coal. Between Hauxley and Cresswell is a series of nature reserves created from the results of coal mining. East Chevington nature reserve was passed to Northumberland Wildlife Trust following opencast restoration. Hauxley Nature Reserve was originally part of Radcliffe open-cast mine. Druridge Pools are a former opencast coal mine. Cresswell Pond is the result of subsidence from collapsed mine works.

Cambois is a former colliery village on the north side of the River Blyth. The colliery closed in 1968. That left access to a deep-sea port, a skilled work force, a rail network and coal was still available from nearby collieries. So from 1970 aluminium ore from overseas was landed here and taken by rail to a smelter at Lynemouth. Electricity was generated at Lynemouth power station, which burnt coal from Lynemouth and Ellington Collieries.

Lynemouith Colliery closed in 1994 and Ellington Colliery in 2005. Lynemouth power station could continue to burn coal sourced from elsewhere, but from 2004 biomass was introduced into the mix, and the power station has relied entirely on biomass since 2015. However, the Lynemouth smelter was now un-economic, and it closed in 2012. Alumina is still imported, and transferred by rail to Lochaber Aluminium Smelter near Fort William on the west coast of Scotland. Lochaber is powered by a hydro-electric scheme.

Lynemouth Power-station now supplies the national grid. But the former coal yards are no longer needed. In 2021 plans were approved for a factory on the site that would manufacture batteries for electric cars. However, construction ceased in 2024 as a result of funding difficulties. In 2025 plans were approved for a datacentre on the site.

This isn't the most beautiful part of Northumberland, but a memorable experience today was watching a family of deer at Druridge Bay Country Park. Happily grazing alongside the cycle track, they were clearly aware that a couple of us were nearby, but they seemed quite relaxed. Eventually they wandered off. The track through the country park is well-used by walkers and cyclists and presumably the deer get used to seeing people. There are different ways of adapting to the area's complex industrial history.

Till: we meet again

 

 

Part of the rationale for getting a folding bike was that I could avoid climbs by putting it in the boot of the car and heading out for flat rides in areas that are less hilly than our immediate surroundings. The plan has worked, but after a few months I felt ready for something a bit more demanding. At the weekend I tried routes around Wooler, but the weather wasn't great and that turned into a short, cold ride with showers of rain and hail. 

Three days later the weather today was a big improvement. So I headed back to Wooler to attempt something more ambitious. I began by revisiting Weetwood and Fowberry. Instead of turning back I then headed for Chatton. Then on to Chillingham, where I had a break outside St Peter's Church. I continued south, almost as far as Old Bewick. Then back via Lilburn Tower. I wanted to avoid riding along the busy A697 so I had intended to head north through Haugh Head. However, I missed the turning. A short stretch along the A697 wasn't as bad as I feared, then I was back on quiet country lanes and the Pennine Cycleway through North Middleton, and Coldgate Mill.

Highlights of the ride were the quiet roads, a variety of fords and old bridges, and great views across lovely countryside. The hedges haven't started to blossom yet, but spring is definitely in the air. I couldn't have asked for better weather. I was looking for something a bit more demanding than usual, and this certainly wasn't as flat as I've been used to. But for a ride of just over twenty miles, it felt more demanding than I intended. I'm not ashamed of getting off and pushing. But really, a bit more practice across similar terrain  is called for. 

Bridges

 

It's been a bit of a gap since my last ride because I've been busy decorating. In the process of clearing the room I discovered a leaflet of cycle routes around Wooler. That sent a pretty clear signal of where I should head for my next ride. So today I headed for Wooler.

The point of a folding bike was that I could stick it in the boot of the car, or take it on public transport to places that weren't hilly. So I'm getting used to easy flat rides. Wooler isn't like that. Some of the routes suggested in this leaflet are described as "strenuous". But I picked one that was described as "moderate". I expected something a bit more demanding than what I'm used to. What I didn't anticipate were the hailstorms.

I was mostly riding on quiet country lanes. There were more dog-walkers than traffic. Most of them said "hello" or "good afternoon". Which was nice. One said "What a lovely afternoon". She wasn't being ironic. I wonder what weather they've been experiencing recently around Wooler.

In summary: Several nice bridges, including Weetwood (thought to have been built in the 16th century, with alterations in 1775) and Fowberry (pictured). More gradients than I'm used to. Interesting weather. In the end I cut it short and only covered 10 miles of a longer route. Still, it was a good ride.

Northumberland Coalfield

 

 

Today I covered a slice through the Northumberland Coalfield. Starting in Newbiggin-on-sea, riding through Ashington to Pegswood then returning through Bothal and Woodhorn to Newbiggin. 

NCN 155 runs from Newbiggin-on-sea to Morpeth. The whole route is less than 8 miles long, but I only followed it for about 5 miles, as far as Pegswood. That section is pretty flat. The only real challenge is following twists and turns through Ashington. On the route back, for variety, I deviated from NCN 155 to visit Bothal then Woodhorn.

Newbiggin-on-sea has history as a fishing port and colliery town but today it mainly has the character of a small seaside resort Today was a sunny Saturday. It followed what feels like endless days of rain. Despite the cold, lots of people were out. Newbiggin-on-sea claims to have the longest promenade in Northumberland and it was buzzing with activity.

A short section of NCN 155 took me to Ashington. Until the 1840s Ashington was a tiny hamlet. But it lies above several layers of coal seams. In the second half of the 19th century the Duke of Portland built housing to attract people to come and work at his multiple local collieries. Ashington expanded rapidly to become the "world's largest pit village". The coal industry declined rapidly in the 1970's and 80's but the long parallel rows of colliery housing remain. The loss of employment hit the town hard, and parts still show the scars. But former industrial land has been reclaimed, private housing has expanded. Ashington station reopened to passenger services at the end of 2024. It feels as though a different town is emerging.

Next, on to Pegswood. This is a small pit village, with a similar history of growth, decline and recent regeneration. Perhaps the most striking feature is this sculpture, officially called 'Fire', but also known as "Robin of Pegswood", it depicts a bronze figure on a steel girder firing a miner's shovel as though it was a bow and arrow. The landowner, Welbeck Estates, has associations with Nottingham. Hence the link to Robin Hood.

My next destination was Bothal, a small estate village that lies deep in the valley of the river Wansbeck. The village history has always been closely tied to the families who owned the estate. The castle (pictured top) contains the administrative offices for the Welbeck Estate, which owns virtually all properties in the village.

It's a steep climb out of Bothal, but there's no shame in pushing. On to Woodhorn, where the colliery closed in 1981. The site is now home to Northumberland Archives and the Woodhorn Museum which depicts the work and lives of local mining families, and art created by the Ashington Group of painters. The pithead gear is currently covered in scaffolding as repair works start thanks to a grant from Historic England of almost £1million. I would have liked to take a closer look but I wasn't prepared to pay the entrace fees. So I pressed on to Newbiggin-on-Sea, where I pootled around the back streets, doing a bit of exploring before calling it a day.

The weather was cold, but not too cold. There's still a lot of water on the fields and some on the roads, including one quite exciting splash though a deep flood. However, today's blue sky was a very welcome change. Total distance covered was just over 15 miles.

Four stations

 

Starting and ending in Embleton, on today's ride I covered 18 miles. If I'd followed this route a century ago I would have ridden past four stations.

1. The first would have been Christon Bank Station. This lies just outside Embleton but for some reason was named after a nearby farm rather than the village. It opened in 1847 and closed in 1965. In addition to a limited volume of passenger traffic the station also carried whinstone from the nearby Embleton Quarry. The two were linked by a narrow gauge tramway. More details <here>.
2. The second would have been Fallodon which opened in 1847 and closed in 1934. Only a mile or so from Christon Bank, this was another complete station with two platforms, name boards and a station house. But it was never intended for the general public. They used Christon Bank Station. Fallodon was solely for the use of the Grey family, their guests and their servants. The Grey family also had a private station at Little Mill: four miles south, close to the other family seat at Howick Hall. At the time, the proprietor of Fallodon Hall was Sir George Grey, who was Home Secretary. The passage of the Newcastle & Berwick Railway Bill through Parliament was eased by providing him with a private station and the right to stop any public train. More details <here>.
3. The third was Chathill Station (pictured above). This opened in 1847. At the time there four passenger trains called every weekday in both directions. Now there are only two services each way on a weekday and none on Sunday. The station building is now a private house. It is listed, Grade-2, but the station is unstaffed and has no ticket facilities or other amenities.
4. From 1898 Chathill Station was the south-western terminus of the North Sunderland Railway. This was built to serve the harbour at Seahouses. The line was rarely profitable and a proposed extension to Bamburgh was never constructed. It was taken over by the LNER in 1939, and closed in 1951. Seahouses station was then demolished. The site where it stood is now the village car park and (importantly on a cold day) also houses the public toilets. For a view of how the North Sunderland line looked about 100 years ago (with its one loco and three coaches) see the Pathe film <here> and more information <here>.

We've had a lot of rain recently. Fields are flooded and ditches over-flowing. But the weather today was an improvement. Some mist, and a noticeable headwind on the return journey. No proper rain, patches of blue sky and even a little sunshine were very welcome. 

Multi-modal

For today's ride I drove to Ashington, took the new Northumberland Line Train to Newcastle then rode back to Ashington Station - mainly along NCN72 (Hadrian Cycleway) and NCN1 (Coast and Castles).

As the train left Ashington there was light rain, but by the time it arrived in Newcastle the sun was just about breaking through. The rain held off until the ride was over and I was in the car heading for home. The sun didn't last though. By the time I reached Whitley Bay there was quite a dense sea fret.

I anticipated the Sunday Market on Tynemouth Station, which provided a good choice of fast food for lunch. I should have anticipated the Sunday Market on Newcastle Quayside. That was really busy, which was nice, but it slowed progress for a while.

I then discovered that my maps of this part of the National Cycle Nework are out of date. There have been some significant improvements since the last time I rode this route. The result was that I drifted away from the correct path on several occasions. Initially I was inclined to blame gaps in the signage. On reflection, a more positive perspective would be to think of this as a great route, with plenty of interest to explore. I have a perfect excuse to repeat the adventure and update my mapping.

Without the unplanned diversions I had expected a ride of just over 30 miles. In practice I covered just over 33 miles. I arrived home tired, but happy after a very satisfying day.

Misty ride

After several days of wind and rain we had a change of weather this morning. No rain. Little wind. Instead it was cold and misty. The ride from Hipsburn  to Amble seemed like a sensible choice because it's mostly off-road. At Amble things were going well, so I continued on to Hauxley. That clocked up just over 14 miles in total, as well as traversing Amble in both directions.

There's a one-way system in the centre of Amble. As a result anyone following the National Cycle Route from South to North will take a less interesting route than those travelling North to South. If they stick to the cycle route they will miss the harbour, Amble's main shopping street, the Town Square, part of the Amble Bord Waalk art trail, and some evidence of Amble's fascinating history. To my mind these are worth a detour.

On the way back to Hipsburn I had a brief chat with a working party from the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans). They had been tidying up the hedges and clearing the path. Important work, for which I thanked them.