Our walk yesterday was in three parts, lasted around five hours and is centred on a small village called Drumbrugh.
Many walkers and cyclists will know the area as one of the points on the Hadrian’s Wall walk or cycle trails in Cumbria.
Haaf Nets waiting to be used
Haaf Nets waiting to be used
Out onto the Solway coast
Drumburgh is situated on the Cumbrian side of the Solway Firth. On a clear day you can see the trucks and vehicles crossing in to Scotland on the A74, to your right about 2 o’clock and the wind turbines on the hills in the Annan direction, to your left about 11 o’clock.
To get our legs moving and clear away our groggy heads, the first part of our walk went down towards the beach.
Quite a number of sheep were grazing on the salty grass but they soon moved as we approached.
We followed a natural flat topped bank for a few hundred yards, which then deposited us in a bit of a muddy marsh. Yipee we were wet and muddy. This walk was going to be fun.
Dad spotted, laying in the afternoon sunshine a haff net close to the edge of a field. Haff netting is a tradition in this area which is said to go back almost 1000 years.
Drumburgh Castle is Grade I listed
The haff net is a single bag like net, mounted on a wooden frame. The fisherman walks out into the sea and with the opening facing the tidal flow, allows fish to be caught. The fisherman stands behind the net whilst fishing.
With the path now fading and no gate or exit ahead we decided to retrace our steps a little and look for some more adventure.
Drumburgh Castle
Dad decided we should head towards the village and see what we could see on foot. We had been through this area in the car many times, however, on foot you have time to take in your surroundings.
An imposing entrance to Drumburgh Castle
First on our sniff list was Drumburgh Castle. An imposing stone building that does not look like a modern castle at all.
Built it seems the 13th Century building, now a private house, it has thick walls made of sandstone.
Robert le Brun obtained a ‘licence to crenellate‘ ( put the familiar battlement features on top of a property) on August 24, 1307 - almost 703 years ago to the day. Happy anniversary for a few days time.
A sandstone crest fades to dust above the door
This permission had to be obtained from the King, Edward II.
The timing of this request is interesting as it was just over a month ( 7 July 1307) since the death of King Edward I nearby.
The property is Grade I listed by English Heritage and used to have four storeys.
Above the main door is the fading crest and initials of Thomas Lord Dacre, a former owner of the property.
Hadrian’s Wall Path
A long path ahead on an old railway line possibly
Around 100m beyond the castle is a wooden sign board indicating the Hadrian’s Wall path is off to our left. A steepish slope past a house with a date plaque of 1720 and the path opened out to a long wide track.
What appeared to be a mile of path lay ahead bordered by muddy edges and loads of plants to keep mum interested.
Glasson, Drumburgh or Drumburgh Moss ?
A plastic bag was soon being made available to gather some fresh tasty brambles for tea when we got home.
The cloudy sky, which had dumped rain on the car as we drove to Drumburgh, had in the main cleared by now and the sun was packing quite a bit of heat.
Thankfully dad had remembered the water bottle and we were able to get refreshed when required.
Phase three of our walk started at the end of the long path, which seemed to be the bed of a forgotten railway track.
All it took was a sign that indicated nature reserve, in this case the Drumburgh NNR, and the two leggers were interested in finding out more. The other two directions were Glasson and back towards Drumburgh.
Horse on Drumburgh Moss
Horse on Drumburgh Moss
Drumburgh nature reserve
After passing through the gate our surroundings slowly changed as the sides of the path came closer and the habitation changed around us.
Beyond the high hedgerows of bramble, gorse and assorted trees lay acres of bright purple heather. In the distance, four brown horses were busy munching the grass. They looked up briefly to see what was going on before returning to their duties.
All sorts of protection schemes are in place for this area managed by The Cumbria Wildlife Trust.
These include being a
- Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
- National Nature Reserve (NNR)
- Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Not lost, just geographically challenged
Things started to get a little confusing and full of dead ends after a short while as paths seemed to just end or exit on to cattle filled fields. At one point we passed over a bridge to find a path which just seemed to go nowhere.
Tryfan enjoys a well earned rest
Occasionally we would spot a marker symbol of a red man with hills on a white background nailed to a structure.
Checking the map later dad noticed that the Cumbria Coastal Way appeared to pass through the area and these markers belonged to that trail.
We all decided that more work needed to be done if this was actually the path. Signage, brush clearance and path works all should be improved.
After about an hour, we decided we were not making headway and so turned back. Charlie at one point found a shortcut back to the main path and was given a big hug, as this saved quite a bit of a walk retracing our steps.
Dad spotted a small deer around 30m away from us at one point. Just like in the nature films it leapt and bounced away before he could photograph it correctly. He does have a very good picture however of a brown blur.
Homeward
Yipee the sign and the gate were in sight, the point at which it all started to get confused.
Here we met up with a new friend called Tryfan. She was walking with her master, the Hadrian’s Wall trail and was on day seven I think.
She was originally from a Welsh sheep farm, hence the name, and was very well behaved. She even had a rucksack like Charlie has.
They were making their way towards Glasson and a well earned rest. Dad pointed out the wooden sign and confirmed their location, using his GPS gadget and their map, then they went on their way.
We made our way back to the car and a rest.
Until next time Buster and Charlie
Further information
Hadrian’s Wall cycleway – What a sight it would be to see a Roman army on bikes.
Hadrian’s Wall National Trail – Details about the walk from Bowness on Solway to South Shields
Further information about Haaf netting – BBC News
