Bowden Doors, Northumberland

Bowden Doors Summit, looking North West

The Hill
Location: Bowden Doors, Northumberland (On the B6349 between Belford and Wooler)

Grid Reference: NU 07204 32369

Height: 208m

Classification: Tump

The Walk

Distance: 1km

Ascent: 28m

Terrain: Close cropped grass with light vehicle tracks, probably from a quad bike

Parking: On the verge, on the opposite side of the road to the summit. Do not block farm gates.

The best hill trips don't always have the most auspicious beginnings. This particular trip was on the second day of a week long holiday, and it was raining hard. We'd been for a mooch round Alnwick, but the town was full of other people mooching around trying to find ways to avoid the rain, and crowds make the hill bagger grouchy. In the interests of avoiding other people we decided the best plan was to try and find a tiny hill on our way back to the holiday cottage. It was mostly for the hill baggers list: it was still raining, and we definitely didn't think we were going to find something blog worthy, but ticking another summit off always cheers him up. 

Unfortunately we didn't actually settle on this plan until we had driven out of town and gotten ourselves onto the A1, which isn't exactly a soothing place to try and find a good tiny hill. We overshot the first hill, and ended up on a dead end single track on the northbound side of the A1. There was, at this junction, no way to go south, so we identified another likely looking candidate a few miles further north and got ourselves back on the A1 again. This time we got off at the right junction and located our tump. There was a promising looking driveable track up to it, which we thought went to a radio mast, but which turned out to go to someone's house. We got to their garden gate, and briefly debated if we could park our car there and nip up to the summit - it was only about 10 metres of climb and maybe 200 of walk, and would only have taken about 15 minutes. But it seemed a bit rude to leave our car at the top of someone's drive, even if it was only for 15 minutes. Also the terrain consisted of shrubby woodland and knee high grass which would have ensured that we got wet from the feet up (I was wearing corduroy dungarees which wick up water from wet grass wonderfully) as well as from the head down (it was still raining). The idea of potentially being shouted at for trespassing while definitely being soaked from head to foot on a walk of less than half a kilometre put even the hillbagger off the plan, so we abandoned this tump, returned to the road, and with what was either commendable optimism or sheer bloodymindedness we decided to try to locate a third tump... 

Off we went, on the good old A1, this time turning off on the B6349, signposted for Belford. We drove through the town and then followed the signs for Wooler which took us fairly steadily uphill, until we reached the road summit of Bowden Doors. This was immediately more promising as there was a gate into the field precisely where we wanted there to be one. There wasn't exactly any obvious parking, but we were able to get out car mostly onto the verge just past the gate, and which was nice and hard despite the rain. 

Once again we are very glad we drive a very small car, as we park on the verge at Bowden Doors

We were further reassured when we reached the gate and there were instructions nailed to the gatepost from the British Mountaineering Council and The Northumbrian Mountaineering Club that the told us not to climb top rope routes, run laps on problems, or climb when the rock was wet. Given the specificity of the things we were asked not to do, we figured that we probably were allowed there so long as we didn't do any of them. Fortunately we had no intention of doing any climbing that involved ropes, I haven't run laps on anything since I was in school, and while we were technically climbing while the rock was damp, we were pretty sure that it wasn't the kind of climbing that they were talking about. 

There were sheep with lambs in the field, which meant nice short grass and dry dungarees, and the sheep didn't seem bothered by our presence, as we didn't have the dog with us. There were light vehicle tracks, probably from a quad bike running all the way from the gate to the summit. Unusually the hill bagger didn't identify the summit correctly to begin with. I pointed at the nearest high point I could see and said hopefully "is this it" and the hill bagger said no, it was further out. Then once we were about half way up he suddenly realised that the contour lines on the map were in fact 5 metres apart, not the 10 that he was used to, and that Bowden Doors is indeed the very obvious high point that you can see straight through the gate, and very close to the road. 

The Hillbagger by the gate, Bowden Doors summit directly above main gate

I can't say it looked like the most exciting hill at first glace. More of a rocky nobble really. But it was there, and it was accessible, so off we went. It was a slightly steeper climb than it looked from the road and I was very glad that the contour lines were only 5 metres apart. It was still well within the scopes of what I could manage though. It still didn't look that exciting from half way up, although the prospects did brighten, quite literally at that point, as the rain stopped and the cloud began to lift a little. 

View towards the summit from the quad bike track as the rain stopped

We were therefore utterly delighted to discover that the summit was in fact far prettier and much more interesting than anticipated. On the east side the hill falls away into full on cliffs, which explained why there were all the mountaineering signs at the gate to such a small hill, and despite the nice smooth grass on the way up the top was surprisingly wild and rugged looking. It felt almost like we were on the summit of a different hill altogether. 

Bowden Doors Summit, looking north

The views were as expansive as could be expected on a wet and cloudy day. We speculated on whether the sea would have been visible had the day been nicer. Apparently it is, which I found out by reading rock climbing blogs when researching for this post, but I would definitely take a return trip on a clear day to see it for myself should the opportunity present. I don't regret doing it on the day we did though. The inauspicious beginnings made the surprisingly good summit all the more surprising, and it's good to get out in the rain every once in a while. It makes you appreciate the sunny days all the more. 

We took a detour on the way down to have a look at the cliffs from below, and I was very excited to see a hare between Bowden Doors and the crag opposite. The hill bagger opined that he might be able to climb up the cliff, but we didn't test this as the hill bagger is not in fact a rock climber. Also the cliffs were most definitely wet, and as rule abiding citizens we weren't going to disobey the gate post signs. Particularly as we had discovered while walking on the summit that one of the reasons it wasn't a good idea to climb on the rocks when they were wet was that they were surprisingly slippery. 

Bowden Doors Crags viewed from below. 

All in all, it was one of the finest hills we have been up for quite some time, and I highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves on the road between Belford and Wooler. Even if it is raining. It actually dried up that evening, and we found another tump to go up in the sunshine, but even with glorious sunshine it didn't manage to eclipse the grandeur and excitement of Bowden Doors. An excellent reminder that you don't have to wait for good weather to go on a tiny hill adventure - sometimes they are just what you need on a rainy day. 

Second summit of the day in beautiful sunshine, but without the excitement and drama of Bowden Doors!