Windy Gyle - May 2023
Sunshine was certainly in store for today, what a wonderful day in May.
After meeting at the Wedder Leap car park, we headed up the valley floor on 'The Street'. We climbed up steeply from the Valley floor, leaving the river Coquet behind, to a lofty position from where we could look up the Coquet Valley to Chew Green and down the valley to Barrowburn. The misty start of the day quickly and the temperature rise very quickly.
The Street is an old Drovers Road. Drovers accompanied their livestock either on foot or on horseback travelling substantial distances, much of the livestock drove in this area was the Scots driving to the English markets.
As we reached and joined the Pennine Way before starting the last big push up to the summit of Windy Gyle, as we started the climb we came accros the Wild Goats of the Cheviot Hills happily grazing on our left totally unfazed by our company.
The goats vary in colour with black, white or brown shaggy coats, but the ones we saw where black in colour.
During most of the year, they are in small family groups, larger numbers may be seen together during the autumn rut when clashes between males happen. They have their young (kids) from mid-February onwards; females sometimes leave newborn kids lying up in sheltered spots while they go off to graze.
Upon reaching the summit of Windy Gyle we where treated to a sunning vista that included the highest point in Northumberland, the Cheviot.
This made for a great location for us to stop and have our dinner before the summit shot.
From the summit we continued along the Pennine Way to Clennel Street, on which we descended a little way before climbing over The Middle then Middle Hill before dropping into Barrowburn before returning to our cars.
It was certainly a walk to remember, we certainly got lucky with the weather and as always great company.