Last updated 12:07, Friday, 25 July 2008

Easy walk alongside rivers and through lovely, wooded gorges - with Vivienne Crow

Map: OS Landranger map 86, Haltwhistle, Bewcastle and Alston.

Start: Low Luckens (GR NY493726). There is parking at the Organic Resource Centre.

Public transport: None.

Refreshments: The Low Luckens Organic Resource Centre is open most times and visitors are welcome to make themselves a cup of tea or coffee.

Distance: 3.4 miles

Total ascent: 384ft

Time: 90-120 minutes

Grade: Easy

Overview: The organic farms of Low Luckens and Whiteholme are tucked away up in the north-east of Cumbria, close to Scotland and a long way from anywhere else. This is where the Black Lyne and the White Lyne, on their way down from the wild hills and forests that line the border, unite to form the River Lyne. This relatively easy walk uses riverside paths and routes across farmland to visit some lovely, wooded gorges along the Lyne and its tributaries.

There are a lot of stiles and rough ground along the way, so it is unsuitable for buggies or people with mobility issues. Bear in mind that much of the walk is on permissive trails, where the landowner has the right to shut paths.

The Walk: Starting from the door to the resource centre (see “points of interest” later), walk across the yard and turn right along the track. Leave the track when it swings right (near the parking area and composting toilets). Walk straight ahead towards a gated gap, beyond which you turn sharp left alongside a large shed.

As you enter a field, bear half-left (SE) along a line marked out through the crop. When you reach the fence, bear right along the field edge with the river below. Beyond the next gate/stile, continue following the fence on your left. Ignore any gates in the fence and eventually you will reach the river bank (0.33 miles from the start), where you swing right to follow the Lyne downstream.

When you reach a fence, climb the slope on your right and then cross the step stile at the fence corner. Keep to the top of the wooded embankment, following the line of the fence on your right. A few feet after passing another wooden stile on your right, leave this narrow trail by heading down some steps on your left – well concealed by the undergrowth – beside a tree with a waymarker on it. Before long, you climb some more steps and come out at another waymarker near a small gate.

Continue with the fence on your right – and, when this swings right, follow a faint line through an area of saplings and then gently down the slope on your left. Crossing a plank bridge, you pick up a riverside path.

Soon after the next stile, you will see a permissive path sign indicating that the route heads up to the right. Follow this; it avoids an unstable section of riverbank and then drops to a bridge across a tributary. Beyond this, cross the stile to leave the woods and follow the fence on your left. Crossing another stile and another bridge along the way, you will eventually reach the suspension bridge across the River Lyne (0.9 miles from the start). Although our route doesn’t cross the river, the fine, albeit wobbly bridge is worth a look.

Standing at the gate to the bridge, turn your back on the river and retrace your steps for about 25 yards and then swing left up an old, barely discernible bridleway. You are soon walking with a fence on your right. Go through the gate at the top – near Gibstown – and then turn left along the surfaced lane.

 Turn right at the next lane junction (signpost reads: “Public Byroad Sykehead, Luckens”). Ignore the footpath heading right at Sykehead and then a bridleway on the left. The lane bends sharp right and then quickly sharp left. After the next straight stretch, leave the lane when it bends right again – by turning left through a kissing-gate (1.75 miles from the start).

The narrow trail swings left, down the embankment and across a plank bridge over Friar Burn. Turn left, cross a tiny beck and then climb the embankment to a kissing-gate. You now bear right, up the slope, to a waymarker. As indicated by the arrow, keep straight ahead, walking close to the shallow ravine on your right. When the ravine swings away to the right, make your way to the gate in the fence ahead.

Go through this and turn left to walk along the edge of the field, being careful not to trample the crop. Keep close to the field boundary when it swings right, heading gently uphill. When you reach the gate at the top, take some time to look behind at the views; you can clearly see the North Pennines, and the Lake District fells are visible far to the SW.

Go through the gate and turn right to walk alongside the fence. Go through two gated gaps, ignoring a track off to the right at the second one. After the next gate, bear half-left to cut diagonally across the field to a wooden stile in a fence.

Beyond the stile, make your way over to the waymarker post at the top of the embankment. Now head straight down the steep slope, but don’t cross the beck at the bottom. Instead, another waymarker partly hidden among the gorse indicates you bear right to follow the beck downstream. Continue for just a few feet beyond the next stile and then cross the beck (2.6 miles from the start).

A faint trail continues downstream, through the attractive Mallsburn Gorge, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its mosses and lichens. You cross one footbridge along the way and then pass – and ignore – another bridge on your right.

Turn right along the wide vehicle track with the Black Lyne on your left. Peering through the trees, you may be able to make out, in about 250 yards, the White Lyne flowing in from the east. From this point on, the two become the River Lyne.

Passing a picnic bench along the way, you reach the edge of the Whiteholme farmyard. Don’t go into the farmyard; instead turn left along a dirt track. This goes through a gate and then winds its way uphill through the woods, all the way back to Low Luckens. The resource centre is on the right just before you reach the parking area.