The season

Last updated: 4 March 2006

The year here is the forest’s year. Leaf comes late and goes early on the higher rides. The green keeps its own calendar, a little ahead in spring and a little behind in autumn, because it is more open. Walkers who take the parish in more than one season will find it is not the same walk. That is the pleasure of it.

A ride toward the Kielder edge. Photograph from the centre collection, month not marked.

Spring is wetter underfoot than it looks from the road. The burns take the winter off the hill. The main trail is the walk we recommend; the eastern loop is a longer outing and is not at its best until the ground has had a dry week, which it does not always have. Birds move in the canopy. Ticks are present from April. The church door, when the light is kind, is a spring visit as much as a summer one.

Summer is the Gathering, usually the second Saturday in July, and the ordinary Sundays if tea is on. It is not a hot parish. Eighteen degrees is a good afternoon. The rides hold the sound and a surprising amount of the weather; a shower that wets the green may already have passed in the trees, or the other way about. Bring waterproofs anyway. There is no shop. A flask is a kindness. See the Gathering and Sunday tea.

Autumn is the larch. The same rides are a different country. October is one of the wetter months in the book. The loop, when it is walked, is best begun with enough afternoon. The 11 October note is still the present advice; see path closures.

Winter is a quieter village still, which is saying something, and it is a good season for those who like the trees without the leaf. Snow, when it comes, lies on the rides longer than on the green. The upper burn crossing is often wet. There is no Sunday bus from Bellingham. Tea is not served in the depth of winter. The trail remains open in the sense advertised. A shorter paper is in winter.