Belott one

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Having read the earlier review, I decided to skip most of it because I didn’t want to be jumping fences, looking for paths which didn’t exist etc. I left Bellingham on the SW route and departed from it at Blakelaw, choosing instead to follow the Pennine Way. I joined the minor road immediately above Brockley Burn and followed it to cross the A68 and rejoin the SW route into Otterburn. Some lovely views along the way and the Pennine Way was well signposted. It’s a solid 3 because of the amount of road walking. The road wasn’t at all busy on a weekday morning.

I walked this route from Bellingham to Otterburn in dry weather. The first section from the town centre to the point where we rejoin the road after Blakelaw Farm is on road or farm track so is relatively straightforward walking. The route then heads up a hill without a clear path to a small plantation. The right of way goes through this but there is no way in and it is easy enough to walk around and rejoin the route on the opposite side. You then keep climbing through pasture generally following the line of an old field boundary. You'll see signs for the Sandstone Way cycle route at this point. Over Highstead Hill where the path crosses the Lisle Burn (thankfully a trickle1) is the first obstacle. The Slow Way leaves the Sandstone Way at this point and heads down to Low Leam Farm. There is no gate or stile here and I had to climb over the wall and electric fence. It is at this point I feel I would not recommend this route as it is not a trivial obstacle. The route to Low Lwam Farme is across very rough moorland pasture which is heavy going though I did make use of vehicle tracks when I could. There was no clear right of way through the farm so skirted the burn at and made it to the road. You leave the road very quickly and head out across pasture easier going this time. The route on OS Maps takes you the wrong side of a fence line so I had to backtrack to get through two gates. There are two challenging stiles crossings avoiding thistles, nettles and electric fences and then a couple more fields with indistinct paths before joining the road into West Woodburn. There is a pub and limited accommodation here plus a Post Office which is open in the mornings. The route takes you through the village onto more road and farm track and pasture towards Corsenside Church. After the church there is some road to the Brigg Farm where the route goes back to very rough moorland pasture and some boggy ground. At Old Town Farm and Cottages there is an option to take a footpath across fields which misses out a section of road which despite not being busy does have some fast moving traffic. You then have a short section of road taking you over the bridge into the village of Otterburn.
There are some obstacles which make this route more challenging than it deserves to be. The scenery is beautiful and the facilities at West Woodburn and the historic Church at Corsenside are plus points.

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