Captain's Log

Unfinished Business

I opened the curtains of my hotel room this morning and got quite a surprise. It wasn’t raining. At least not yet. There was even a slight break in the stratus cloud to suggest that the sun might appear at some stage. It looked like I’d get a rain-free walk at last. 

Yesterday evening, I had pondered about driving over to Thrunton Wood today to do a walk. The weather forecast suggested that there might be snow showers coming later in the day. I didn't want to get snowed in anywhere. On the spur of the moment, I decided to do a local walk in Alnwick instead. In 2023 I’d carried out a walk in Hulne Park on the west side of Alnwick (see the Captain's Log, Alnwick Panoromic) . This had turned out to be a pretty area and was an enjoyable walk. There were 3 signed trails in the park; red, blue and yellow. I’d completed the blue and yellow one, but there was about ⅓ rd of the red route that I wanted to explore. Today’s route would complete the yellow and red routes. 

Hulne Park

Hulne Park opened at 11am and shut at 4pm. The late opening was a bit annoying, but my hotel was on the east side of town and I had just under an hour’s walk to get there. I called in at Morrisons in the centre to get a meal-deal packed lunch. By the time I came out of the supermarket, the sun was out and it stayed out all day. I walked to the entrance to Alnwick Castle and then past the Baillifgate Museum that I visited earlier in the week. A little further along was the wonderful St Michael’s Church. The current building is 15th century, but there had previously been a 12th century Norman chapel on the site.     

The entrance to Hulne Park was about a 5 minute walk away. It had a rather grand entrance arch and buildings. I passed through the gate and headed down the impressive wooded entrance drive. I remember from my visit that the estate was very officious. There were signs everywhere saying that you shouldn’t do this and you shouldn’t do that. At least the three trails on the estate were well signed. Several signs around the estate say that there was CCTV watching you. I ignored the ‘Keep Off The Grass’ at one point, and walked a few steps on forbidden territory, before jumping back on to the tarmac. I listened out for sirens and fully expected a SWAT team to abseil down from helicopters, but nothing happened. Further along the road, I came to a stationary estate excavator. The driver had his phone up at the windscreen pointing at me and I could see and hear that he wasn’t talking to anybody. I had a distinct feeling that he was filming me on his phone. I think the Estate’s paranoia was rubbing off on me. 

Yellow Route

I headed uphill on the Yellow Route and Brizlee Tower came into view. The tower was 26m tall and stands on top of the hill. Even so, it was easy to miss since it was surrounded by trees. The tower was completed in 1781 by the 1st Duke of Northumberland in memory of his wife, although I doubt that the Duke got his fingers dirty during its construction. There are a couple of roundel portraits of the twosome halfway up the tower. An information board said that ‘on certain occasions’ the tower was open to the public. Given the number of public access restrictions on the estate I’d guess the ‘certain occasions’ would start with firstly that the planets were aligned. I wandered around the bottom of the tower, but the trees obstructed views of the valley below. 

I had more success with views further along the loop of the Yellow Route where the trees fell away and I came to a large standing stone at the track side. There was also a horizontal stone that made a good seat. I sat down to have my Morrisons meal-deal. The view from here was magnificent. The Cheviot was clearly visible on the skyline and it and its surrounding hills were covered in snow. Down below I could see the road that formed the Blue Route that I’d walked along in 2023. On the other side of the track was a rectangular garden surrounded by a stone wall. There was a grand iron entrance gate that had various sculptures on it relating to the estate. It even had a skull, which was a bit worrying. The gate was padlocked and so I couldn’t get into the inner garden. There appeared to be a large metal tree sculpture in the centre of the enclosure. I could see stone crosses engraved on the internal stone walls. It was all very mysterious. I couldn’t remember this being here when I came here previously. At that moment a couple from Bedlington arrived from the opposite direction and they stopped for a long chat. They said that the gates had been there for at least 10 years. I remember it being a snowy gale the last time I was here; maybe I’d just had my hud up and walked by it. The couple said that they’d seen some deer just around the corner and so I got my gear and rushed around to have a look. About half a dozen of them crossed the road and disappeared into the forest. I think they were Roe Deer. I managed to get a reasonable photo of one stag.   

The Yellow Route completed a circuit and I retraced my steps to Park Farm and the continuation of the Red Route.

Red Route

I headed downhill from Park Farm on a pleasant woodland track. Four buzzards circled above the trees on my left. I hoped they might land so that I could grab a photo, but they weren’t accommodating. The track brought me down to the River Aln that was shifting a lot of water at quite a pace downstream. I crossed the bridge and admired the view of Hulne Abbey on the nearby hill. I headed straight over the grass towards it. I fully expected one of the Estate workers to rumble up to me in one of their 4WD and chastise me for walking on the grass, but I couldn’t see anybody else around.      

On reaching the exterior abbey wall, I opened a wooden door to gain access to the interior. On the other side of the door I found a chap gardening. ‘Just doing a bit of weeding before it gets out of hand’ he told me. He certainly had his work cut out given the size of the Abbey’s grounds. I took a tour of the grounds, much of it ruined. The abbey was founded in the 13th century by Carmelite Friars. They built an abbey here because they thought that Brizlee Hill looked like Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. I must admit, it was a very beautiful spot with the surrounding hills, colourful woodland and the River Aln meandering its way through the valley below. If I ever would build an abbey (which I won’t), I’d definitely choose a location like this. 

I found my way from the abbey back to the Red Route again and started following the road along the valley bottom. There were a few other people walking along the road, presumably to ensure they didn’t get locked in when 16:00 hours arrived. Some areas surrounding the road had been flooded by the recent rain. There was no danger of ‘walking on the grass’ here. I crossed Filbert Haugh bridge that had a weir underneath. The water was frothing white over it. Further along the road I could see the ruins of Alnwick Abbey on the other side of the river. This was a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1147 by Eustace Fitzjohn. I must admit that I’d not heard of the Premonstratensians before. They are a Catholic order and are known for wearing white clothing. 

I reached the park’s gates an hour earlier than lock-up time. Better early than late. The sun was getting low, but it was still out and I was soaking it up. It had been nice to visit Hulne Park again. It’s a very pretty place and has a few curiosities to keep you entertained. It’d be nice if some other trails could be made over the estate, but given the proliferation of ‘no access’ signs, I’d guess this was not on the top of the Duke of Northumberland’s priorities.