A Trip to the Seaside

A guided leisure ride from Wooler to Bamburgh and back along quiet roads, with stops to allow slower riders to catch up and to explore places of interest.

The ride starts and ends at the Wooler Milk Bar & Cafe in Wooler (http://doddingtonmilkbar.co.uk/).  The Milk Bar will be open at 07:00 serving breakfasts, snacks, and Pumphreys of Newcastle coffees (and Doddington Dairy ice-creams if you want them). The Wooler Milk Bar closes at 17:00.  Toilets are available for customers. 

The ride goes to Bamburgh by the most direct route from Wooler.  It makes its way past Weetwood Bridge and Fowberry Tower to Lyham Bank.  Then it's a strenuous climb up to the top of this mile long bank to the Bowden Doors sandstone crag (popular with rock climbers), followed by a rest to relax tensed muscles and to enjoy the best panorama of the Cheviots available.  What goes up must come down!  So continuing the ride, after a mile or so of undulations the route reaches the exhilarating descent into Belford giving us glorious views of Holy Island, Lindisfarne Castle, and Bamburgh Castle on the way down.

At Belford the route takes the northern crossing of the A1 and follows the lovely undulating road to Budle Bay nature reserve and then on to Bamburgh where there will be time for lunch (pubs, shops, cafes) and  a stroll on Northumberland's best  beach, or just sitting beside the pristine cricket green being overwhelmed by the massive majesty of Bamburgh Castle.

The return route runs to the south of, and more or less parallel to, the incoming route taking us to the southern crossing of the A1 at Belford.  It then makes for Chatton (avoiding the climb to Lyham Bank from the other side) making a thrilling descent from Chattonpark Hill to the old Chatton Bridge and into Chatton village.  The final leg is along the B6438 back into Wooler.

Duration of ride is expected to be around 6 hours including stops.

Toilets:  Public toilets are at Wooler (at the bus station) and Bamburgh (opposite the village green).  Toilets at pubs and cafes are generally for customers only. 

The ride is operated by the Wooler Cycle Hub on behalf of Northumberland National Park Authority.

The route, route profile, and gpx download (and direct downloads to compatible Garmin devices) are available on Garmin Connect at https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/17890567