East Cramlington Nature Reserve
Firstly a review of the recce I did for the Arcot Golf Club circular:
Arcot Golf Course, Cramlington. Circular starting at Lancastrian Road, crossing over the East Coast Mainline, up to Beacon hill and Beacon Lane. Through White Hall Farm and Arcot golf course and past the dead lake. About 4 miles. UPDATE, there is some building works taking place near White Hall Farm which has obliterated the ROW to White Hall Farm from Beacon Hill.
History of White Hall Farm has deep historical roots tied to the area's agricultural and industrial past:19th Century Records: Land surveyor documents show that Cramlington and White Hall Farms were officially valued back in June 1846.
Mining Heritage: Like much of Northumberland, the farm was once surrounded by coal activity. Historic records from March 1865 detail geological coal-boring tests taken just a few yards north-east of the White Hall Farmhouse as part of the West Cramlington Estate.
55.079010, -1.594758
Cramlington, NE23 6JU
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LeitKiVCMUYEsZAQA
Recce.
This was a very disappointing walk. It started off well with plenty of parking spaces at the end of Lancastrian road that wis easy to get to. The route taken was the reverse of the map as this was easier to do than the direction of the arrows.
Nice country walk and easy to follow, over the railway and west for a mile or so and south at the turn, there were building works going on with a fence there that was a precursor of things to come. Down to Arcot lane and a quiet road to the golf course club house and a 90 decree turn to north. This proved a poor route as the public r.o.w. yellow signs were not on the posts and the car park attendants were unsure of the way.
After a couple of wrong turns I eventually found a path that led in the general direction north and I did spot a broken yellow arrow at the end of the golf course where there was a wobbly plank bridge over a stream, this was the path on the map but it petered out at the end of the tree line.
The empty space above the tree line is now all building works, ground works and with massive housing estates being constructed with the whole area being fenced off. This made it impossible to follow any public footpath (all gone anyway now) and it was then the map became useless and I wandered through scrub to the estate that was like a rabbit warren with no sign posts and as it was brand new the OS map had not been updated. After asking a couple of ladies out walking their dogs I made it to the straight cycle path/lane back to the railway line and Lancastrian road to my car.
The route was good until the golf course and I wouldn't recommend it for our group, the day was very hot (10th June) and I was glad to get back to the car. One highlight was me being watched by a roe deer only a few yards away, that moved behind a tree when I got my phone out to take a pic. It moved behind a tree and stood dead still, thinking "I can't see you so you cant see me!"
Therefore as we are due a Cramlington walk I will recommend the East Cramlington Nature Reserve that we have done previously but is a nice walk, an hour plus with a good bird hide, pond and car parking.
East Cramlington Local Nature Reserve Circular Trail
We can explore this route, it takes an average of 1 h 3 min to complete. This trail is great for birding, hiking, and running, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring.
The best times to visit this trail are March through April. There is a small free car park at the entrance along the B1326 from Cramlington to Seaton Delaval.
If you are travelling from Cramlington hospital towards Seaton Delaval it is just before you get to the bend in the road. Use postcode NE23 6XF and continue driving along the road past Astor Court Care Home - the car park is on the left just before the bend. The nature reserve is popular with dog walkers but it is pretty quiet - the perfect place to enjoy a socially distanced walk. We spotted a couple of people on our walk on a warm sunny day in half term but most of the time it was just us. Dogs are welcome on leads - be mindful of Alabama Rot which there are sometimes reports of in the area (last reported 2 years ago - no reports at the moment May 2020) There are no toilet facilities but there are plenty of bins and picnic tables so ideal for a quiet picnic. (Rickelton)
Link to website:
https://www.northeastfamilyfun.co.uk/2020/05/east-cramlington-nature-reserve-trail.
