A drive to a place, followed by a walk to a gap where there is a tree.

    There are so many beautiful and cool places to visit locally. Well when I say locally I mean within 40 to 50 miles away from home. Over the last few weeks I have been checking out the internet upon my days off, trying to discover places I have not been to before and quite fancy visiting. Last week it was Whitby (Yeah I know about 70 miles away), where the weather was glorious. 

Sycamore Gap

Today I entised Ern to join me in a venture to a place called Sycamore Gap, which is in Northumberland. I love being out doors and Northumberland has some beautiful areas, plus it was a chance to take Grandma for a spin. I just have to remember to have my sensible head on when driving her, as she is a bit of an animal and the Turbo "Whooosh" and "Flutter" is a bit addictive.
 

VW Beetle "Grandma" GSR

I was going to write all about the history of this place, called Sycamore Gap. I mean it goes way back, even before the Romans came to town and decided to build a wall, which we all know as Hadrian's Wall. This wall was designed as a stone barrier to separate the Romans and the Picts tribes in Scotland. It allowed Roman soldiers to control the movements of people coming into or leaving Roman Britain.

This Way I  Guess

Anyhoo I thought I would leave a few highlighted links, so that anyone interested could head off and read about the history and beautiful area, should they choose to do so. 

Ern Raring to go and keep leaving me

The area is actually part of the National Trust and if you have not explored it I can't recommend it highly enough. Not only do you get some magical views and a jolly good work out, of course this is dependant upon which route you choose to take. You can either hike up and over the public footpath and across the field, which has a makeshift stone pathway leading to a steep hillside. Set in the hillside are a range of different sized stones.These stones make a rough stair way and an interesting ascent or decent depending on which way you are going.The stones have been smoothed over time, due to the weather and of course the many boots that have ventured upon this particualr route. The route we took to get back after visiting the tree, was much more laboured and whilst it had a few ups and downs, the walk was a very enjoyable one. I believe in total we walked about 2 1/2 miles or so.

Another nice thing about this place is you get to meet some friendly passers by, who are all out doing the exactly same thing and just enjoying the fresh air, history and beautiful views.

After heading up the road, discovered a public footpath

Looking up towards the stepped hillside

Some Wooly creatures have been about

The visitor centre has some good information, along with gift ideas or items to purchase to remember your visit by. Ern and I have taken to buying a fridge magnet or two to pop upon our fridge, a small momento of each trip and a memory shared. You can also get a lovely hot drink, after being up on the tops, especially welcome on a day like we chose, where it was cold and blustery. Make sure you bring the appropriate gear as the weather can change quite quickly. A pair of good walking boots is a good idea, as the trails and footpaths are not exactly flat and strewn with rocks and undulations. Ern borrowed one of my walking poles and this really helped him out.

Quite some challenge getting up that stepped hill

Narrow Gap to Get Through

Looking down from the hill

Beautiful views

A canny bit colder up on the tops

There are various routes that you can take to get to the "gap" and view the Sycamore tree. As this was our first time, it was a case of just guessing the best way and following some sign posts. Of course once we had discovered where the tree was, it soon became apparent that we could have chosen a much easier and flatter route. That said I really enjoyed the challenge of climbing up the steps placed upon the hillside, even though both going up and coming back down was a little daunting, especially in the wind and using a prosthetic leg. Good for my core stability I guess...

Lots of stone walls about

Ern heading back down and towards Sycamore Gap

Ern leaving me

  Finally getting to the tree after a cold yet enjoyable hike. Definitely will come back to see the tree in full bloom... 
 

Took this shot with my Samsung Galaxy S9

After all that on the way back to the Information Centre Car Park I stopped to add a check in and picture of our outing on Facebook. I don't know how but at this point I ended up on my butt as my leg gave way. Hey what can I say I just can't multi-task. Pleased it was there and not on the top of some cragg, so at least I get to tell you without the air ambulance being involved LoL