Crammel Linn (13th November 2016)

13 November 2016
Crammel Linn

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Decided to take a 7.4 mile hike to Northumberland's largest waterfall from Gilsland through the Irthing Gorge.

The walk was fairly easy. Muddy underfoot for most of the way. A bit slippy near the waterfall and where we thought the path had been washed away, it might've been on the other side of the river as we were not aware that there were two bridges.

Speaking of the other side of the river... when I came to edit the footage there was a man who just appeared out of nowhere, at the very end of a bit of footage I took while on the bridge. My friend Gary is stood near me on the bridge and there was nobody behind us on the trail. We only saw two people walking, one walking a dog further up the bank near the spa... and a woman walking a dog just as we entered Gilsland.

At the time of taking the footage, I noticed nobody on that side of the bank and it was only when I came to edit the footage that I noticed someone appear from nowhere... very strange... especially as he only appears in that one bit of footage and as we regularly stopped to take photos, we must've surely noticed if someone was following behind us.

On the other side of the bridge was a spring smelling badly of sulphur. Apparently there are three springs connected with the spa but I have no idea which is which. It is a place once visited by Walter Scott, Robert Burns, and King Edward I.

The nearby Popping Stone was a place where Victorians would propose to their fiancees and is supposed to be the place where Walter Scott popped the question to his wife.
See: http://www.laverocks.co.uk/Poppingstone/images/mrbonar.jpg

The journey to the waterfall is a little bit rougher under foot and not always so clearly marked, with signs of erosion and some slippy parts.

The waterfall itself is very impressive when there is a bit of water in the river... but that makes the stepping stone route back to the car a bit tricky and wet. We walked up the side of the main fall to see the smaller fall at the top. There are also some old pumping houses here from RAF Spadeadam.

On the return journey we saw the abandoned fighter jet used for target bombing raids at RAF Spadeadam but decided it was not worth the risk of crossing over to see it close up... especially as a patrol vehicle drove by us just as we joined the road from the waterfall.

For a close up shot of the fighter see:
http://northphoto.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/fighterjet-1024x576.jpg

RAF Spadeadam was where the British rocket program was based and apparently you can still see the rocket silos... for further details see:
http://www.forgottenairfields.com/united-kingdom/england/cumbria/spadeadam-s966.html

It is still an active RAF base and bombing range so access is denied without permission.

On the way back we followed the road for a little bit in order to see a farmhouse called Moscow... and were disappointed that there was no house sign at either the house or on a road sign. We wanted to take a photo to show we had been to Moscow for the day... sigh. We are guessing its name is a cold war joke connected with the bombing range, so the pilots can say they are bombing a couple miles north east of Moscow.

Our route can be found here:
http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4438624.html

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Видео Crammel Linn (13th November 2016) канала Northern Wayfarer