Otterburn.

With the Otterburn military ranges open to the public, Mike and I agreed to a walk in that area. Setting out from Rochester, we headed up past the Roman fort. It is noticeable that many of the local dry stone walls are built with carefully dressed stone! A footpath led us up Coal Cleugh and in to the forestry. The going was rough in places but at least the footpath was reasonably signed. The Tofthouse road, marked as a bridleway, is in fact a road.

For most of our route it was largely on tarmac. The wide open views made the walking something of a pleasure. Also, we were able to maintain a steady pace.

Two young military types in a four four stopped to check on our route. They were off to a hill to blow something up. They did too, with quite a large boom!

Wide open spaces.
The wind was fairly blustery as we headed up past Bushman's Crag.

Our aim was for the trig point at Ridlees Cairn.

It was then down and around to the Dere Street Roman road. A long straight stretch. A few icy showers with beautiful rainbows, chivied us on our way.

Most of it was straightforward walking with a few tussocky bits thrown in for good measure. A good workout for the legs!

A nice days walking covering an average of 13.5 miles.