The Pennines, also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a more-or-less continuous range of hills and mountains running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, and North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commonly described as the "backbone of England", the range stretches northwards from the Peak District at the southern end, through the South Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines to the Tyne Gap, which separates the range from the Cheviot Hills across the Anglo-Scottish border. South of the Aire Gap is a western spur into east Lancashire, comprising the Rossendale Fells, West Pennine Moors and the Bowland Fells in North Lancashire. The Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in Cumbria are sometimes considered to be Pennine spurs to the west of the range. The Pennines are an important water catchment area with numerous reservoirs in the head streams of the river valleys.
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for 268 miles (431 km) from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes described as the "backbone of England". Although not the United Kingdom's longest National Trail, it is according to The Ramblers "one of Britain's best known and toughest".
Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. It covers an area of more than 1,050 square kilometres (410 sq mi) between the Scottish border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall, and it is one of the least populated and least visited of the National Parks. The park lies entirely within Northumberland, covering about a quarter of the county.
The River Coquet runs through the county of Northumberland, England, discharging into the North Sea on the east coast at Amble. It rises in the Cheviot Hills on the border between England and Scotland, and follows a winding course across the landscape. The upper reaches are bordered by the Otterburn Ranges military training ground, and are crossed by a number of bridges built in the 20th century. It passes a number of small villages and hamlets, and feeds one of the lakes created by extraction of gravel that form the Caistron Nature Reserve, before reaching the town of Rothbury, where it is crossed by a grade II listed bridge. Below the town is Thrum Mill, the restoration of which was featured on Channel 4 television.
The Cheviot is an extinct volcano and the highest summit in the Cheviot Hills and in the county of Northumberland. Located in the extreme north of England, it is 1+1⁄4 miles from the Scottish border and is the last major peak on the Pennine Way, if travelling from south to north, before the descent into Kirk Yetholm.
England comprises most of the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, in addition to a number of small islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. England is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of mainland Britain, divided from France only by a 33 km (21 mi) sea gap, the English Channel. The 50 km (31 mi) Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, directly links England to mainland Europe. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel.
Alwinton is a village and former parish in Northumberland, England. Alwinton is named after the nearby River Alwin, and means farm on the River Alwin.
Windy Gyle is a mountain in the Cheviot Hills range, on the border between England and Scotland. Like the other hills in the area, it is rounded and grass-covered. It is the highest summit on the border, although not the highest point as the border is higher where it runs along the western shoulder of The Cheviot, at a point called Cairn Hill West Top, or Hangingstone Hill. The cairn at the summit of this hill is named Russell's Cairn and has a small depression suitable for shielding about 15 people from the wind; the border runs directly through the cairn although this can only be seen on the map, the fence which follows it in many places is absent here. The Pennine Way crosses the summit, thus providing one possible route of ascent. Windy Gyle may also be climbed from the Coquet valley to the south (England), or from Cocklawfoot to the north (Scotland). There are good views from the summit north towards the Scottish Borders, Eildon Hills and Edinburgh and south across the southern Cheviot Hills to the North Pennines.
Thropton is a small village in Northumberland, England, situated 1.9 miles (3.1 km) west of the village of Rothbury connected by the B6431 near the junction of the Wreigh Burn and the River Coquet. In the village is a fine stone bridge over the Wreigh Burn which was built in 1811. There are haughs to the south and north of the village, and imposing views of Simonside, a long crag south of the Coquet.
The River Allen is a river in the English county of Northumberland. The river has its sources in the hills of the Northern Pennines, and is formed by the confluence of the East and West Allen rivers. The Allen is itself, a tributary of the River Tyne. The Allen was formerly very polluted from mining activity upstream, but remediation schemes have been implemented to allow the water quality to improve.
Barrowburn is a hamlet in Upper Coquetdale in the county of Northumberland, England. It comprises a working farm with associated buildings and two holiday lets. One of the holiday lets is the Old School House, which closed as a school in the 1970s. The settlement is situated by the River Coquet, at its confluence with Barrow Burn (stream), after which the settlement is named. There is a road bridge over the Coquet and a ford over the burn here.
The Breamish is a river in Northumberland, England, which rises on Comb Fell in the Northumberland National Park on the southern side of The Cheviot. It is one of the eight rivers rising in the Cheviot Hills, the others being the College Valley, the Harthope Burn, the Bowmont Water, the Kale Water, the Heatherhope Burn, the Coquet and the Alwin.
The Cheviot Hills, or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes The Cheviot, plus Hedgehope Hill to the east, Windy Gyle to the west, and Cushat Law and Bloodybush Edge to the south.
The North Northumberland Coastal Plain is a major natural region that lies on England's northeasternmost stretch of coastline on the North Sea. To the west lie the Cheviot Fringe, the Northumberland Sandstone Hills and Mid Northumberland; to the south it is continued by the South East Northumberland Coastal Plain.
The Northumberland Sandstone Hills are a major natural region that lies entirely within the English county of Northumberland. Their sandstone hills form distinctive skylines with generally level tops, northwest facing scarps and craggy outcrops offering exceptional views to the Cheviots further west.
The River Alwin is a short, steep upland river that drains the Kidland Forest on the southern flanks of the Cheviot Hills, in the Northumberland National Park, England. It is a tributary of the River Coquet and 2.7 miles (4.3 km) in length.
The geology of Northumberland in northeast England includes a mix of sedimentary, intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks from the Palaeozoic and Cenozoic eras. Devonian age volcanic rocks and a granite pluton form the Cheviot massif. The geology of the rest of the county is characterised largely by a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age. These are intruded by both Permian and Palaeogene dykes and sills and the whole is overlain by unconsolidated sediments from the last ice age and the post-glacial period. The Whin Sill makes a significant impact on Northumberland's character and the former working of the Northumberland Coalfield significantly influenced the development of the county's economy. The county's geology contributes to a series of significant landscape features around which the Northumberland National Park was designated.
The geology of Northumberland National Park in northeast England includes a mix of sedimentary, intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks from the Palaeozoic and Cenozoic eras. Devonian age volcanic rocks and a granite pluton form the Cheviot massif. The geology of the rest of the national park is characterised largely by a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age. These are intruded by Permian dykes and sills, of which the Whin Sill makes a significant impact in the south of the park. Further dykes were intruded during the Palaeogene period. The whole is overlain by unconsolidated sediments from the last ice age and the post-glacial period.
