The Vale of Nunsbrough

1715 is the date of the Jacobite uprising and the troops camped overnight in the Vale of Nunsbrough, by the river. In 2015 we had a walk on this theme in the Haltwhistle Spring Walking Festival. Today I recreated the walk on my own.

It was another hot day. Temperatures were already over 20 when I set off at 10am. I had quite a few sections in woods, which provided a pleasant cooler atmosphere and gave me respite before the next open and sunny section.

There is an open access area at Nunsbrough Woods, a Woodland Trust wood, and there is a large meadow between the trees. I could see a lot of good meadow plants in profusion, but was thrilled to find yellow rattle. This is an indicator of a good hay meadow. The yellow rattle is saprophytic on grasses and makes the grasses less vigorous. This allows the other meadow flowers to have a chance.

The route was just over 8 miles so I was pleased to manage it.

It is still very hot here at 9pm.