THE MUDDY BUMS (aka "the Clarty Ars#ses") MOUNTAIN BIKING IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND BEYOND

Sunday 14th March saw most dutiful men taking their Mums out for Lunch. But for the 6 hardy Muddy Bums out to play today, the delights of the South Tyne area took priority. Tom, Kev, Dave, Terry, Nico and Mark met at Halwhistle Railway car park in chilly and cloudy conditions. The route starts rolling (quickly crossing the River South Tyne for the first of many times) and then starts coasting when it joins the old railway route to Alston.

Initially this rail line provides a gentle incline on a sealed surface which allowed for pretty good progress - despite a reasonably stiff headwind and an unnnecessarily large number of gates. Quite soon the route arrives at Lambley Viaduct which always impresses. It's size speaks volumes about the engineering skills and commitment of our Victorian forebears. But the fact that the route cannot simply continue straight through the station on the far side - instead having to take a rather tortuous detour off, under, around and then back up to the line - speaks volumes for the less farsighted times when the line was closed and someone was allowed to "privatise" a bit of it.

The route looses its good surface by Slaggyford and a few muddy patches are encountered - but nothing too serious. Soon the railway line shows signs of being restored with a new track being laid on the final 3 miles up to Alston. The laying of these lines has also seen the route widened - which makes riding it a lot easier than it has been in the past. Arriving at Alston Station we decided that an early lunch was well deserved.

The route now leaves the old railway line and initially takes the main road, then a series of small lanes back along the East side of the River. The views facing this way are much more impressive than on the way up - providing far vistas of the spectacular North Pennine landscapes here abouts. After some criss-crossing we picked up the bridleway from Williamston to The Bog. This route has an ancient feel to it - as it takes a rollercoaster of a route up, down and along the valley side. This is a high quality few km's - much enjoyed by all. After The Bog we encountered a "stiff shower" as we picked up a byway which follows the river side for a while, then becomes a very narrow footpath. This path climbs up into a beautiful oak wood - which had us all admiring its rather unusual silver and red hues - and then sweeps through a conifer planation all the way back to Lambley. A bit of off-piste exploratory route finding proved very enjoyable and rewarding here abouts - and created great wide grins all around. We finally found ourselves beneath Lambley Viaduct, where its full grand scale was even more impressive than crossing it had been earlier. A very steep climb up to the railway line was then followed by a fast sweeping return to Haltwhilstle.

Everyone arrived back at the cars quite weary, wind blown and content. Its a good route this one, which allows a lot of ground to be covered in a rolling, coasting and rollercoasting kind of way on a mainly solid surface. And it dishes up some especially beautiful stretches which will linger in the memory for many months. Muddybumming at its best !   MARK