Published at 15:41, Wednesday, 23 December 2009

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Map: OS Explorer map OL324, Liddesdale and Kershope Forest.

Start: Cuddy’s Hall picnic area in Kershope Forest, about 4 miles north of Roadhead (GR NY520808).

Public transport: None.

Refreshments: Nothing for several miles.

Distance: 7 miles

Total ascent: 814ft

Time: 3.25-3.75 hours

Grade: Easy/Intermediate

Overview: Christmas trees! Thousands and thousands of them! That’s what you will find on this seasonal walk through one of the huge, lonely forests that line the Scottish border. Suitable for the whole family, this route keeps almost entirely to good tracks as it heads deeper and deeper into the trees – to within a stone’s throw of Scotland. Don’t go expecting dark, regimented lines of trees as far as the eye can see; there are some surprisingly large open sections where the views are quite impressive.

The Walk: From the picnic area, cross the concrete bridge and head up the gated track (signpost reads: “Public Footpath Christianbury”). This is known as Rispie Cleugh. Although you are on the edge of a huge area of conifer plantations, the route feels surprisingly open; there is none of the claustrophobia often associated with the dark, sprawling border forests…yet.

Having walked for almost two-thirds of a mile, turn left at a crossing of routes. The track swings right and then right again as you walk with the wildly meandering Cuddy’s Burn on your left. When the track swings sharp left, keep straight ahead (NNW) along a grassed-over track that quickly crosses a small bridge (1.1 miles from the start).

Before long, you will have a long straight section of mossy track stretching out ahead of you, climbing gradually. At the top, this swings sharp left to soon reach a junction with a clearer track. Turn right.

You cross Caldwell Sike on a wide, sweeping curve in the track (two miles from the start) and then climb the other side. At the top of this short rise, the track swings left and, for the next half-mile or so, you get some great views right across the top of the sprawling forests to the hills of southern Scotland. They look rather inviting!

Turn left at the next junction, a waymarker indicating that you are now on a cycle route. The track swings right and begins to climb as you enter a denser area of forest. Turn left at the T-junction at the top (2.8 miles from the start).

At the next crossing of tracks, the main route keeps straight ahead, but a short detour to the left will take you to Davidson’s Monument. It is less than 300 yards down the hill, to the right of the track.

Back on the main route, bear left at a fork and then take the next clear turning on your left (four miles from the start). This is as close as the walk gets to the Scottish border – the one solitary building at English Kershope is down the track to your right at this junction, just 400 yards from Scotch Kershope.

Bear left at a fork in the track and then keep straight ahead to enter a felled area, passing and ignoring a track to the left as you do so. A little later you should ignore a track to the right and then a track on the left. As you reach the edge of a recently replanted area, follow the main track round to the left, ignoring another turning off to the right on the bend (5.4 miles from the start).

Keeping straight ahead, the track will eventually bend sharp right and, in a few hundred yards, reach the road near Stelshaw Lodge. Turn left and the parking area is just over half-a-mile on your left.

Points of interest: Davidson’s Monument marks the spot where Thomas Davidson, a “game watcher” was murdered in 1849. A former poacher himself and a father of eight, he had been employed by the Netherby Estate for the previous 20 years. He had left home on the morning of Thursday, November 8, but failed to return that night. His wife alerted Armstrong, the gamekeeper, the next day, and a search party set out to look for him. His body was finally found on the Saturday. He had clearly been involved in a struggle and had died of strangulation.

Two members of the notorious Hogg family, John and cousin Joseph, both well-known poachers from the Canonbie area, were arrested along with Andrew Turnbull. The latter committed suicide in Carlisle gaol before he could be brought to trial. He had written several messages on the lime-washed walls with a burned stick before he hanged himself. One of them read: “The two Hoggs are guilty, I am innocent.”

The two Hoggs were acquitted of the murder after the judge suggested to the jury that it was not safe to rely on Turnbull’s earlier testimony. A few months later, no fewer than eight “game watchers” lay in wait for John, Joseph and another Hogg in nearby Liddesdale and caught them with four-and-a-half brace of black grouse.

With a variety of habitats and tree types, Kershope Forest is home to a range of birds, according to a survey carried out by Cumbria Bird Club a few years ago. Raptors include buzzards, goshawks, merlins, sparrowhawks and tawny and barn owls. The rare hen harrier breeds on the moors nearby. Other birds that can be seen in the area include siskins, crossbills, cuckoos, whinchats, willow warblers, tree pipits, redstarts, great spotted woodpeckers, chiffchaffs, curlews, stonechats, grey herons, mallards and goosanders. Some of the open areas are also thought to be used by the elusive nightjar.

For walks in the Lake District, try Vivienne Crow’s Walk! The Lake District (North). Available in bookshops.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk