About the area
APPROACH
Watch out for the salmon as you drive through the ford behind the Youth Hostel in the village, use the bridge if the river is too deep. Don't get startled by the heron if it glides too low across your path to the nest in the next field. You will have to drive slowly along the farm track as the moorhens run ahead of your car, you also may encounter a sheep or two with their lambs, or maybe a new calf with its Mum.
You might be lucky enough to see the otter and his family it you walk behind Holmhead, through the back garden and onto the footbridge …if the ducks haven't chased them away.
Above you looms the crumbling Thirlwall Castle, built of Roman Wall stones, there are stories of hidden treasure and ghosts.
Holmhead is also built of Wall Stones and stands on the foundations of the Wall, (there is an inscribed stone in the kitchen wall), hence the remote setting and distance from the road. The footbridge is on the route of the Pennine Way, and leads up to one of the highest remaining sections of the Wall, just past the Roman Army Museum at the top of the hill.
It is possible to walk or cycle along this fascinating central section of about 25 miles, and visit forts, archaeological excavations and museums like Vindolanda and Housesteads, most are open all year.
Of course you can take your car and drive up to each point, but there is nothing like an invigorating walk along these high remote crags, looking across the wild moorlands as the Romans must have done nearly 2,000 years ago, and watching as the Kestral, Lapwing and Curlew dip and rise on the air currents.
The National Park information Centre issues a walks booklet, and there are sometimes guided walks.
SURROUNDS
The area is full of interest, both historical and natural, with the wild beauty of Northumbrian moorland, streams and varied wildlife, Visitor Farms with goats and deer, Castles and Roman Wall. Cycle hire and cassette guides available.
For a day out the Northumbrian coast (Which is designated an area of outstanding beauty), with its numerous castles, the farne islands, and Holy Island are recommended, as are the nearby North pennines, and Alston (the highest town in Britain). Nestling in the moors nearby is a lead mining centre, museum, and a narrow gauge railway. The cities of Newcastle, Carlisle, Edinburhg and Durham are within reach for a day trip and nearer are small market towns like Brampton - Priory, excellent golf course and lake; Hexham - Abbey from the year 674 and good golf; Corbridge - Antiques shops, Roman site and museum.
Beamish Open Air Museum was voted Museum of Europe in 1989 and is open all year.
Bowes Museum and Gateshead Metro - an indoor complex (there is shopping, theme villages, indoor fairground, bowling, cinema and cafes) and Newcastle's Natural History Museum, Antiquities Museum and others, provide a tempting alternative if the weather is unkind.
In the summer the National Trust open some of their grand old houses, Cragside and Wallington are a popular choice. Kielder forest, reservoir, and the Scottish borders are half an hour's drive and the Lake District less than an hour away.
For evenings, there are folk nights, theatre in Hexham and Carlisle, local music and slide talks on Hardrians Wall at Holmhead on request.
We could go on about the unspoilt villages, the little market towns and the friendly pubs. Suffice to say that despite the quiet rural surroundings, a stay at Holmhead will be anything but dull, especially as guests have full access to a stock of books, brochures and maps detailing the attractions of the area, and the services of Pauline, your host who is a qualified guide and specialist on Hadrians Wall. Og kan snakke Norsk.
