Titlington Pike

The Location

About 2 miles from the A697 beside Powburn, 9 miles south of Wooler

What's there

An hour's walkup and over a hill, then back by a quiet road. No facilites and not for the disabled. Dogs will need to be on a lead, as there are sheep on the hillside.

How to get there

Postcode for Satnav - NE66 4AF. This is for Shawdonwood House farm, which you pass on your right as you drive up the steep hill from the A697.
The turnoff for this walk is a bit difficult to find. Coming from the south up the A697, you pass the Whittingham turn off, you climb up a hill then over the other side, where you will find a crossroad with the right hand turn posted Edlingham, where you turn right onto a narrow road by a stone cottage.
Coming from the north, drive through Powburn village, then take the next left at a crossroads, about a mile past the village and just over the top of a hill.
Once you are on this narrow road (called Playfair road), the road goes downhill, then up a steep hill to a cross roads. Turn right the crossroads and after about 400 yards you will see a trackway on your left that runs round the north side of Titlington Pike. There is space for one car to park safely by this trackway, and there is a rough parking area on the right about another 400 yards along, opposite another trackway that runs up the Pike, with room for 3 cars.

The Walk

Click here to see a routemap of the walk. It will open in a new tab.
I'm assuming you start at the roadway that runs to the north of Titlington Pike. Follow this road along until you see a gateway blocking the road. About 20 yards before this gate, you will see a latched gateway on you right which leads into the rough area around the Pike. All this area is Common Access ground, but will be overgrown with bracken in the summer, so the walk as described mainly follows farmer's tracks. Go through this gate and follow the track over a boggy area and up towards the rear of the Pike. Ahead, you will see two parallel pathways, one which runs through a cutting and one which follows a ridge. You need to aim for one of these paths. After a short distance you will find a better track which crosses your path. Turn left, then right again after maybe 50 yards, and head for one of those parallel pathways described above. The two pathways join higher up and become a narrow farm track. Follow this track until it joins another, well defined trackway. Turn right onto this trackway and follow it right to the top of the hill, where you will find a trig point.

The trackway now runs along the ridge on top of the hill towards a small radio mast. Take in the views and follow the path to the mast, then turn right and follow a steep trackway down the hill to the road. Once at the road, turn right and walk back to your car. This road is very quiet.