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  • St Oswald’s Way
    • Holy Island to Bamburgh
    • Bamburgh to Craster
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    • Warkworth to Rothbury
    • Rothbury to Kirkwhelpington
    • Kirkwhelpington to Heavenfield
  • Short Walks
    • Coast
      • Bamburgh 3.5m (6k)
      • Bamburgh & Burton 7m (11k)
      • Beal & Fenwick 5.5m (9k)
      • Belford 3m (4.5k)
      • Belford & Detchant 5.5m (9k)
      • Holy Island 3m (5k)
      • Warkworth (two routes)
      • Warkworth & Amble 5m (8k)
    • Country
      • Felton (two routes)
      • Great Whittington 5m (8k)
      • Heavenfield & Wall 3.5m (5.5k)
      • Kirkwhelpington 3m (5k)
      • Pilgrimage to Heavenfield 4.5m (7.5k)
      • Rothbury 7.5m (12k)
      • Rothbury and Newtown 4.5m (7.5k)
      • West Thirston 3m (5k)
    • Easy Access
      • Bamburgh 2m (3k)
      • Belford 1m (1.6k)
      • Craster 2.3m (3.7k)
      • Great Whittington 1.9m (3.1k)
      • Holy Island 2m (3k)
      • Kirkwhelpington 1.9m (3k)
      • Rothbury 1.2m (2k)
      • Warkworth 2.4m (3.9k)
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Section 5
Rothbury to Kirkwhelpington

St. Oswald's Way long distance walk, Rothbury to Kirkwhelpington(15 miles / 24 km)
Download GPX file

The picturesque and ancient village of Rothbury is set in the Coquet valley and surrounded by hills. St. Oswald’s Way leaves the River Coquet here and heads southwards again, this time over remote but appealing country.

The route enters Northumberland National Park and passes the remains of an Iron Age hill fort and rock carvings at Lordenshaws.
The heather-clad moors of the Simonside Hills are crossed before reaching Harwood Forest, a large plantation managed by the Forestry Commission.

The route then crosses attractive farmland to reach the settlement of Knowesgate and the scenic small village of Kirkwhelpington.

You can watch a video of this stage here and an aerial tour of the route here.  Both are kindly provided by David Steel of Plan Watch Walk, a Northumberland based walking resource.

Walk link – https://youtu.be/ZNklrjwXLsI

Aerial tour link – https://youtu.be/h-N8Xoz6DnY

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