Hartside, Medieval Village and Linhope Spout

The person you are most likely to meet in the hills today is a shepherd in his four-wheeler, but slopes are crisscrossed with ancient tracks and informal drove roads. At Hartside (where the walk begins), a silver cross found in 1861 is said to have been dropped by an 8th-century pilgrim.

On the left of the road are curious slatted fences preventing snow from drifting onto the road, a necessary precaution as Linhope can be cut off for weeks in winter. Below Cat Crag, curlews call plaintively and you might hear the strange hum of wind rushing through a male snipe's tail feathers during courtship dives.

The route leads to a deserted medieval village: in the 14th century, border raids and the Black Death led to the abandonment of many villages in the Cheviot Hills, and the remains of several houses are still visible among grass and bracken. You descend towards Grieve's Ash, a large settlement occupied from the Iron Age to Roman times, where sunken paths form part of its extensive ramparts.

Down the hill beyond an attractive stone bridge is Linhope Lodge (built in 1912 as a hunting lodge). A broad track climbs above Linhope Burn where foxgloves colour valley sides in summer, and siskins, linnets, and wheatears sing. When woodland ends, a bracken track leads to one of the loveliest waterfalls in the Cheviot Hills: Linhope Spout drops 56 feet into a basin 15 feet deep and seven feet across (formerly called 'Roughting Linn' from an old word for lowing cattle referring to the sound of water pouring over rocks). From here you return to Grieve's Ash and follow a private road along the hillside back to Hartside Farm.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.