When I looked at this walk on the schedule I thought Redesmouth sounded like it should be up near Berwick or Jedburgh. Scotland-ish. Thankfully it wasn’t as that would have been a bit of a drive.

Redesmouth is a tiny village just west of the [marvellous A68] before you get to Bellingham. The road to get there is a fantastic roller coaster ride. You should try it.

After some improvised car parking (more of that later) we set off across fields that were a bit damp, tussocky with un grazed grass and a bit uneven; these conditions really put the feeling of long miles into your legs pretty quickly. As we were going uphill as well, we were a bit puffed out after only thirty minutes. After a slight detour (thanks to a grumpy local who told us where to go) past a shepherd’s hut we encountered a pair of charming donkeys in a field who were only too pleased to say hello.

Passing the adjoining cottages, we headed quarter of a mile down a farm track past another house and then plunged into thick silver birch woodland. This seldom used path in the woods tumbled steeply downhill and was pretty tricky going. After twenty minutes of scrambling, we passed under a disused railway arch and then emerged into lighter, flatter woodland and then out onto a wide open stretch of grassland on the North Tyne riverside. It was stunning. A beautifully situated barn conversion overlooked this idyllic spot; lucky people!

The walk continued along the North Tyne, which is particularly wide and fast flowing here and looks spectacular. It must also contain a good salmon run as the Duke of Northumberland has a lovely fishing lodge on the banks.

Carrying on through light woodland by the river we emerged onto the disused Border Counties Railway line. This must have been, even in its heyday, a relatively obscure railway route carrying few passengers. Now, it is a fine grassy walk sprinkled with old sheds and sidings.

This walk brought us back to Redesmouth at the disused station of Redesmouth Junction with its converted signal box, railway sheds (now cow byres) and intact platform.

We got a bit of verbals from a local resident who contested our parking position although we checked we weren’t blocking any access or driveways. No Private Road sign either.