Christopher Somerville

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window


Cyclists on the Waskerley Way railway path pedalled into a strong cold blow from the west. The rest of the UK was sweltering in 30º of heat, but not up here on this brisk day of sun and cloud over the Durham moors.

The old railway rose gently to the west between bushes of gorse and young juniper. The wind carried lamb cries and the liquid territorial calls of nesting curlew, cur-leek! cur-leek! I almost trod on a curlew egg, a long olive-green oval camouflaged with tarry scribbles. A lapwing flapped above us, whistling in agitation, then landed to run parallel to us, crested head raised, before taking off for another agitated circuit above the human intruders.

Lumpy mounds of spoil bore witness to lead mining in the not so distant past. Nowadays the moors are managed patchwork-style for grouse, with coarse grey patches of old heather left for shelter and bright green young shoots for food. It was wonderfully exhilarating to be walking these uplands with their long views and sombre colours under a racing sky.

We left the Waskerley Way and followed a stony track down to the long dam wall and wind-rippled water of Hisehope Reservoir. A feeder channel paved with stone led away east across the moor. Fenn traps had been placed on poles that crossed the channel to catch four-legged predators on grouse. Snipe and golden plover flew up with piping cries, then settled to their nesting once more.

A side path ran off north across the moor, soon descending to cross the deep-sunk Backstone and Hisehope burns in a steep little gully. From here the landscape changed to thistly meadows crossed by the faintest of cart tracks. The lonely farmhouse of Cushat Leazes drooped sadly, slate roof falling in, walls patchy where handily shaped stones had been robbed for wall-mending, a reminder of just how tough life is for the upland sheep farmers.

We followed a green path over rough pasture to climb the steps to the brink of Smiddy Shaw Reservoir. The wind drove the water in whitecaps, and the view back across the moors we’d tramped disclosed a big dark marsh harrier sailing close to the heather, a lapwing rising to scold it away with urgent, creaking cries.

How hard is it? 6 miles; easy (but GPS helpful); moorland tracks

Start: Waskerley Farm car park, Consett DH8 9DZ approx (OS ref NZ 051453)

Getting there: A692 Consett to Castleside; cross A68; minor road past Horsleyhope; in 3 miles, left (brown sign ‘Waskerley Station’).

Walk (OS Explorer 307): Right along Waskerley Way/WW. In 1¼ miles at next car park (033453), right; left beside road. In 250m right on track to Hisehope Reservoir. Just beyond house, right (025462) along channel. In ⅔ mile round right bend to footbridge (037464). Left here on moor path for ⅓ mile to Backstone Burn. Follow right bank; cross burn at confluence with Hisehope Burn (040473). Left to cross Hisehope Burn. Up bank; in 150m, right over ladder stile (039474). Ahead across grass on track. In 100m edge left to raised bank; follow it to ford (039476); on to reach wall on left. Follow it to house (041479). In dip, right on grassy drive. Cross footbridge (042477); in 200m pass Cushat Leazes ruin; bear right (044475) on green path. In ⅓ mile through wall gate (043470); ahead on moor track; steps up to Smiddy Shaw Reservoir (044464). Left; at car park (047462) left to road; right to corner (048457); left (‘WW’) to car park.

Lunch: Picnic

Accommodation: Derwent Manor Boutique Hotel, Allensford DH8 9BB (01207-592000; derwentmanorhotel.com)

Info: thisisdurham.com

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window


A brisk day on the east Devon coast, with a grey and blue sky racing over the white houses of Sidmouth. From the coast path just east of the town the sea gave the impression of inexorable power as it picked at the sandstone cliffs, staining its shallows a dusky red.

All the flowers of spring were out along the cliff path – primroses, daffodils, celandines, coconut-scented gorse, a feast of yellows. The strong west wind whistled in the blackberry scrub, the waves sighed gently on the shore far below. Beyond the deep cleft of Salcombe Mouth, Higher Duncombe Cliff stood tall, capped with rock faces of orange and yellow exposed by recent falls.

A long flight of steps led down to the valley bottom, handing over there to a slog of a climb by zigzags to the cliff top once more. An oil beetle hauled its shiny carapace up the path among clumps of violets and just-emerging speedwell. Over in the valley of Lincombe we heard the first chiffchaff of the year broadcasting its two-tone claim to ownership of a few square metres of ash saplings and briar bushes: tzip-tzap, tzip-tzap, a proclamation of spring.

Robin and wren contested bragging rights nearby. A pair of jackdaws jousted in the wind, their playfulness contrasting with the furious cries of two herring gulls as they divebombed a circling buzzard.

Down at Weston Mouth we passed the old market gardens of Weston Plats, overgrown and neglected since the days when famous early spuds were grown in these sheltered cliff nooks. A steep path led inland to Slade House Farm where donkeys of all ages and stages find sanctuary. Oldsters trotted and brayed, foals raised their angelic little faces to the visiting children.

In snug little Salcombe Regis daffodils were out in the churchyard. Here lie two eminent scientists who loved this delectable spot – Sir Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), discoverer of helium; and Sir Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945), designer of the radio transmitter with which radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi made the first transatlantic transmission in 1901. Marconi took the credit; Fleming nursed his wounded pride in dignified silence. One hopes the beautiful little village where he chose to be buried soothed his spirit.

How hard is it? 5 miles; moderate/strenuous; clifftop and field paths.
NB: steep climbs and descents; many steps, slippery paths, several stiles.

Start: Salcombe Hill car park, near Sidmouth EX10 0NY (OS ref SY 139881). NT car park – £3, card only (members free).

Getting there: Car park is opposite Norman Lockyer Observatory, Salcombe Hill, between Sidmouth and Salcombe Regis (signed off A3052, Sidmouth-Seaton).

Walk (OS Explorer 115): Past NT payment sign; left on tarmac path; in 150m ahead on stony path to Coast Path (139876). Left; follow Coast Path for 2 miles to Weston Mouth (163880). Left inland (fingerpost/FP, ‘Dunscombe’). In 250m path rises to gate, then FP (162884). Fork right (‘Donkey Sanctuary’). In ½ mile at top of rise by sanctuary buildings, left (161892, 2 stiles, FP ‘Salcombe Regis’). Through sanctuary grounds to road (159851). Dogleg left/right (FP ‘Trow, Salcombe Regis’) and on. In 5th field (153889) half left to stile into road (152888). Right into Salcombe Regis. At road, left (149888), fork left past church; at Southcombe House fork right (148886, ‘South Combe Farm, Coast Path’). In ¼ mile fork right uphill through trees (145883, FP ‘Sidmouth’); at top of climb cross track (143882, FP ‘Salcombe Hill, Car Park); ahead to car park.

Lunch: Donkey Sanctuary, EX10 0NU (01395-578222, thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk)

Accommodation: Blue Ball Inn, Stevens Cross, Sidford EX10 9QL (01395-514062, blueballsidford.co.uk)

Info: visitdevon.co.uk

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window


If you were looking for a clutch of Cotswold villages that typified everything enticing about this part of the world, you could hardly do better than those that look into the Evenlode Valley between Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Norton.

Bledington is the perfect place to start, a collection of fine large houses and thatched cottages in the beautiful local stone that weathers to a rich creamy gold. From here our path ran across the wide fields of the vale, ribboning across the corrugations of medieval ridge-and-furrow.

We passed Gawcombe Farm’s scrubby preserves and followed a muddy green lane up to the neighbouring villages of Nether and Church Westcote. A blackbird sang for nesting time in the hedge at Church Westcote, then gave a chakker of alarm and fell silent as we passed.

Dark slaty blocks of cloud were slashed across great pillows of white on a pure blue field of sky. We passed through a plantation of young oak and silver birch, where stacks of abandoned logs gave off a fruity savour of damp moss and rot. Dogwood twigs glowed a brilliant crimson as the low afternoon sun glanced across them.

The mellow walls and gables of ancient Icomb Place stood ahead on the ridge. Beyond them we came to St Mary’s Church at Icomb, its tower topped with a little pitched roof of stone, as though a tiny house had been plonked on top. Inside, exquisitely worked hassocks lay ready for the knees of worshippers. One was embellished with birds we’d seen or heard today – chaffinch, tree creeper, nuthatch, goldfinch and wren.

Sir John Blaket lay recumbent in effigy, stone sollerets pointed like winklepickers, moustaches overflowing his helm, a martial hero of Agincourt. Less honourable residents of Icomb were the Dunsden brothers, the original Tom, Dick and Harry, highwaymen of the 18th century who ended their careers behind bars and dancing the hangman’s jig.

Out in the open air we descended from the ridge into the vale once more. The first skylark of the year poured out a silvery song high and invisible over a turnip field, and a black horse cantered neighing around its sunlit paddock as though injected with pure essence of the oncoming spring.

How hard is it? 7¼ miles; easy; field paths

Start: The Green, Bledington, Oxon OX7 6XQ (OS ref SP244227)

Getting there: Bus 802 (Kingham to Bourton)
Road: Bledington is on B4450 between Stow and Chipping Norton

Walk (OS Explorer OL45): Follow Church Street. Right beside church; follow ‘Oxfordshire Way’/OW signs. In 1 mile, left across footbridge (235221, yellow arrow/YA). Follow path (‘Diamond Way/DW on map) across fields. In ½ mile meet green lane (230214); left for ¾ mile to road at Nether Westcote (227203). Right; in 100m fork right down path (226203, fingerpost). In 50m fork left on path to Church Westcote. Right at road (221204) past post-box. At ‘Middlemarch’, right down track (220207); in 100m, left over stile (YA). Follow DW. In 200m into plantation (218209); keep ahead at fork (YA) and on. In ½ mile cross OW (216216); in ½ mile pass reservoir on right; in 50m fork left uphill (215223). In 30m, right (gate, YA) to Icomb Church (214226). Return along path and on. Approaching Middle Farm, left (217226, fingerpost) on path across fields. In ½ mile cross Lower Farm drive (225227) and on; in ½ mile, right down driveway (233229). In ½ mile at right bend, left (234221, kissing gate) on OW/DW to Bledington.

Lunch/Accommodation: King’s Head, Bledington OX7 6XQ (01608-658365, kingsheadinn.net); Feathered Nest, Nether Westcote OX7 6SD (01993-833030, thefeatherednestinn.co.uk)

Info: Stow-on-the-Wold TIC (01451-870998)

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window


Birdsong was loud in the trees of the Luxulyan Valley on a morning of brilliant sunshine. Among the mossy trunks of oak and beech the giant legs of an aqueduct stepped across the ravine, a scene from a post-apocalyptic dream.

All over Cornwall, the landscape goes hand-in-hand with the architecture of long-dead industries, most notably here in the twisting valley that winds down towards the china clay port of Par. When Joseph Treffry built the structure that served as aqueduct and viaduct across the Luxulyan Valley in 1839-42, it was just one piece in a great jigsaw of tramroads, watercourses and railways this powerful engineer and industrialist created to link up his copper and tin mines and granite quarries with the ships and quays he operated down on the coast.

Nowadays the Luxulyan Valley is a showpiece of beautiful woodland where liverworts and mosses thrive in the stonework of Treffry’s redundant tramways and water gurgles seductively along his abandoned leats.

From the eastern end of the viaduct we followed the granite setts and rusted rails of the Higher Tramway beside the ferny channel of Carmears Leat, then down a long steep incline. Wagons of coal for the steam engines that pumped out the mines were drawn up this tremendous slope; tin ore rattled down in the opposite direction, heading for the port.

At the foot of the incline a chalky grey lane shadowed a tangle of railway lines along the flat valley bottom where glossy horses grazed and the stream beds sparkled with chips of mica. A swift blast of traffic fumes and noise at the level crossing in St Blazey, and we were heading away and up through quiet beechwoods on the Saints Way path.

Dark Ages pilgrims and holy wanderers used this ancient route across the Cornish peninsula to shorten the perilous sea journey from Ireland to the Continent. The Way led us north across undulating farmland with glimpses of the sea and of the Cornish Alps, pyramidal china clay tips, once dazzling white, now greening over.

Soon a run of stone arches, pale grey and ghostly, floated into view above the trees of the Luxulyan Valley, and we dropped down to cross the Treffry Viaduct in woodland now hushed with the approach of nightfall.

How hard is it? 5 miles; easy; woodland, farmland tracks; many stiles on homeward leg.

Start: Black Hill car park, Luxulyan PL24 2SS approx (OS ref SX 059572)

Getting there: Luxulyan Valley is signposted from Luxulyan (signed from A390 at St Blazey, A391 at Lockengate).

Walk (OS Explorer 107, interactive map at luxulyanvalley.co.uk): Up steps by info boards; right along leat; in 30m, left up woodland path to Treffry Viaduct (057571). Left; in nearly 1 mile, at foot of incline (070563), ahead along lane. Follow lane; then from Ponts Mill (073561) follow old railway track south to A390 in St Blazey (071551). Right; in 100m, right (‘Luxulyan’). In half a mile, right (062553, ‘Saints Way’/SW) up woodland path. In 100m bend right along edge of woodland. Follow SW (cross logo, yellow arrows/YA) past Nanscawen (060554), Great Prideaux (058558), Trevanney Farm (056566) and on across fields for 1½ miles. Descend into valley. Just before bridges, right off SW (053574, YA). In 50m cross stile into field; in 100m, left at cross-paths to gate onto old tramway (055573). Right across Treffry Viaduct and retrace outward route to car park.

Lunch: King’s Arms, Bridges PL30 5EF (01726-850202, kingsarmsluxulyan.org)

Accommodation: Old Vicarage, Luxulyan PL30 5EE (01726-858753, tovl.co.uk)

Info: Friends of Luxulyan Valley (luxulyanvalley.co.uk)

First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window


The old wool-trading and lace-making village of Thorncombe lies up and down its sloping street, a handsome huddle of old cottages in a steep, remote piece of countryside where Dorset tips over into Somerset.

The sun was finally groping its way through the clouds after days of miserable rain. The fresh wind and brilliant autumn colours of the woods put a spring in our step as we followed the rim of the deep ferny cleft of Stonelake Brook.

The Monarch’s Way led north through pastures where the wet grass polished our boots for us. Flints underfoot crunched and crackled. Off on our left side the church and houses of Thorncombe sloped down their hillside, framed by oaks and beech trees in wind-tattered gold and scarlet.

Down at Synderford bridge we picked up the Jubilee Trail and followed it north across the red mud squelch of rain-swollen brooks and the broad clover leys on Chitmoor. Devon Ruby cattle grazed the fields at Wheel House Lane, the sturdy little bull inspecting the females with close solicitude.

A screeching chorus of pheasants arose from a maize field as we neared Forde Abbey, where the last of the afternoon was slanting across the old monastic buildings. The view down the drive from the ornate gates was of a surf of pink, white and purple cyclamen along the lime avenue leading away to beautiful gardens and fountain pools.

Just beyond Forde Abbey the meanders of the River Axe mark the Dorset border. We crossed the bridge into Somerset and turned west through lush river meadows dotted with fine old cedars. Along the river, the pink blooms of Himalayan balsam opened their spotted throats to release a spicy fragrance. We edged round a deep gravel pit, pushed our way through an elephantine jungle of maize nine feet tall, and skirted the empty yards of Forde Abbey Farm.

Now the sun made a belated return, streaking the sky with patches of blue and fringing the clouds with a sharp lining of silver. Lemon yellow beech leaves scuffed under our boots as we came past Whistling Copse and turned for home.

A great view of rolling country to west and east, and we were crossing Thorncombe’s cricket field where goldfinches in a flicker of wings were gobbling up the grass seed laid on the pitch by the groundsman in hopes of a perfect surface for next summer’s opening match.

How hard is it? 6½ miles; easy; field paths. NB GPS and OS Explorer map are helpful for route-finding.

Start: St Mary’s Church car park, Thorncombe, Dorset TA20 4NE (OS ref ST376034)

Getting there: From Crewkerne (A30, Chard-Yeovil) follow ‘Forde Abbey’, then ‘Thorncombe’.

Walk (OS Explorer 116): Path through churchyard to road; left to junction at chapel (376032); right uphill. In 100m pass ‘Old Alley’; left (375032, fingerpost/FP). At stile, ahead (yellow arrow/YA); in 2nd field, stile (377027, ‘Liberty Trail’) through trees. In 200m, sharp left on Monarch’s Way/MW (377025) to pass Yew Tree Farm (383031, ‘Wessex Ridgeway’). At road, right (380035).

At Synderford sign, left (382037, FP, Jubilee Trail/JT), skirting water treatment plant. Cross brook; bear right up field slope with hedge on right to gap (380037, JT). On by hedge, following JT waymarks to cross brook in trees by stepping stones (376041). Left up hedge, left through hedge at top of bank (375043); right to kissing gate/KG. Follow right-hand hedge; in 200m, right (374045, KG); left up hedge. In 200m, left with hedge on left (374047); follow JT to Wheel House Lane (371048).

Left; opposite Thorncombe turning, right (366047, FP, JT) across fields to road (362053). Right past Forde Abbey gates, across River Axe. Left (362054, ‘Horseshoe Road’). In ½ mile, recross Axe (356051, YA). Follow Liberty Trail/LW and YAs clockwise round gravel excavation at Westmills Plantation (354050). Cross road (355046, ‘Forde Abbey Farm’) across field. Skirt to right round Forde Abbey Farm buildings (357042); follow farm drive. At fuel tank fork left (363037, blue arrow) across field to Horseshoe Road (366037). Right (LT). In 200m bear right along hedge (366036, FP). In 650m path descends and bends right; left here (368030, stile) to stile in conifer hedge (370030). Across recreation ground to cross road (371031), then more fields (YAs) to Thorncombe.

Lunch: Bell Inn, Winsham TA20 4HU (01460-30677)

Accommodation: Haymaker Inn, Wadeford, Chard TA20 3AP (01460-64161, thehaymakerinn.co.uk)

Info: Chard TIC (01460-260051); fordeabbey.co.uk