Blanchland, Pennypie, Baybridge and River Derwent

The walk follows a quiet, tree lined lane along Shildon Burn. In early summer, the sides of the lane are thick with cow parsley, germander speedwell, greater stitchwort, meadow cranesbill and creeping buttercup, and the woods are full of the songs of wren, chaffinch, blackbird and goldcrest.

Shildon is a small hamlet, lying near the ruins of an old smelt mill chimney that dates from the lead mining days of the 19th century. Behind Shildon are spoil heaps, bare of vegetation. The site is an interesting reminder that lead was mined in Northumberland from Roman times right up to the 1920's.

North west of Shildon, the route passes a plantation of sitka spruce and Scots pine before emerging on open pasture land. Northern marsh orchid, fairy flax, birds foot trefoil and lady's mantle grow here in summer, when the beautiful plaintive call of curlews can be heard. In winter, these birds return to their coastal feeding grounds.

Just before Pennypie House, the route crosses Shildon Burn and heads south on a rough track through heather moorland. Lapwings nest here in summer and give spectacular tumbling flight displays. There are superb views in all directions over the moors. The route descends steeply to the hamlet of Baybridge, then follows the River Derwent back to Blanchland.

The mellow, grey stone houses in the centre of Blanchland are grouped snugly around an open square that was once the outer courtyard of Blanchland Abbey. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by Walter de Bolbec for the Premonstratensian Canons, who originated from Normandy. It is thought the village was named Blanchland, which means 'white land' after the white habits that were worn by the monks.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1534, Blanchland passed into private ownership. Lord Crewe, a former Bishop of Durham, who owned the Blanchland estates, died in 1721. He left his property and lands to trustees who rebuilt the village to house lead miners. The medieval gatehouse that dominates the village square was once the entrance to the abbey precincts, and now houses the village shop and post office with its unusual Victorian post box.

The present church was built in 1752 from parts of the old abbey church. The building that is today the Lord Crewe Arms Hotel was originally the Abbot's lodge, guesthouse and abbey kitchens, while the lawn at the back used to be the site of the abbey's cloister.

Lord Crewe married Dorothy Forster in 1699. When her brother became involved in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, she helped him escape from imprisonment in London, and hid him in the lord Crewe Arms Hotel. She was later immortalised in the novel 'Dorothy Forster' by Walter Besant, and her ghost is said to haunt a bedroom at the hotel and to roam the lonely moors.