Summer Walk, Shaftoe Crags Circular - Tuesday 25th June 2019.
On Tuesday 25th June 2019, Six years since our last visit, we returned to Shaftoe Crags near Bolam Lake for
walk Number Two on the Camera Club Summer Programme. Starting from the field car park near Bolam West
Houses, Seven members met on a dull and cloudy evening but fortunately the forecast heavy rain did not
materialise and we set off in good spirits. Heading in a south westerly direction on the farm access road, we
passed a small lake and woodland, going through the farmyard and then turning west, outside East Shaftoe
Hall Farm. We continued on this track and the gentle gradient took us through a gate and onto the old drovers
road that led us out onto the open moorland.
The first rocks then came into view, adjacent to a group of trees that concealed a very steep drop to the foot
of the crags. The Devil's Punchbowl is an odd feature of one of the most prominent rocks balanced on the cliff
edge. It is a circular basin cut into the sandstone, that was allegedly filled with wine for the wedding of William
Blacket of Wallington in 1725. Several members climbed onto this rock formation called the Pipers Chair where
the hollows and carvings were well photographed, together with foxgloves and the first blooms of the purple
heather along the crags.
Rejoining the footpath we walked behind High Shaftoe and Shaftoe Grange, two beautiful barn conversions in
an idyllic setting, and then north over the moorland. After half a mile we turned east towards Salters Nick, a
small gully that cuts between the crags that is supposedly named after salt smugglers who used this part of
the old Scotland to Newcastle drovers road, to avoid the salt tax at that time. Here we all explored the rocky
outcrops, photographing patterns in the weathered rock in an area that is acknowledged by the local climbing
fraternity as one of the best bouldering sites in Northumberland.
Moving on the group continued to the hilltop and then down a grassy bank and through a field inhabited by a
large dairy herd with calves, who took a great interest in our actions as we returned to our start point to complete
this circular walk. Thank you to all who supported this visit where despite the poor light we had a good evening
of photography.
Davy Bolam.
walk Number Two on the Camera Club Summer Programme. Starting from the field car park near Bolam West
Houses, Seven members met on a dull and cloudy evening but fortunately the forecast heavy rain did not
materialise and we set off in good spirits. Heading in a south westerly direction on the farm access road, we
passed a small lake and woodland, going through the farmyard and then turning west, outside East Shaftoe
Hall Farm. We continued on this track and the gentle gradient took us through a gate and onto the old drovers
road that led us out onto the open moorland.
The first rocks then came into view, adjacent to a group of trees that concealed a very steep drop to the foot
of the crags. The Devil's Punchbowl is an odd feature of one of the most prominent rocks balanced on the cliff
edge. It is a circular basin cut into the sandstone, that was allegedly filled with wine for the wedding of William
Blacket of Wallington in 1725. Several members climbed onto this rock formation called the Pipers Chair where
the hollows and carvings were well photographed, together with foxgloves and the first blooms of the purple
heather along the crags.
Rejoining the footpath we walked behind High Shaftoe and Shaftoe Grange, two beautiful barn conversions in
an idyllic setting, and then north over the moorland. After half a mile we turned east towards Salters Nick, a
small gully that cuts between the crags that is supposedly named after salt smugglers who used this part of
the old Scotland to Newcastle drovers road, to avoid the salt tax at that time. Here we all explored the rocky
outcrops, photographing patterns in the weathered rock in an area that is acknowledged by the local climbing
fraternity as one of the best bouldering sites in Northumberland.
Moving on the group continued to the hilltop and then down a grassy bank and through a field inhabited by a
large dairy herd with calves, who took a great interest in our actions as we returned to our start point to complete
this circular walk. Thank you to all who supported this visit where despite the poor light we had a good evening
of photography.
Davy Bolam.