Wylam Wood

The second edition Ordnance Survey map (published 1897) shows the route of an old waggonway NZ1064 : Old wagonway, Ovingham Riverside which joined the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway just west of a junction at Hagg Bank. The modern line is protected by the green-painted metal fence on the right of the photograph. The old waggonway served a colliery near the River Tyne close to Hagg Farm but neither the colliery or waggonway are shown on the first edition 6" map (published 1864) and both appear to have gone out of use by 1897. A branch railway along the same route was installed later to serve an aerial ropeway across the river used to transport materials for the construction activities of the Newcastle & Gateshead Water Company.

A rainbow in the dark, sunlit sky shows of rain on its way.

Yellow-wort is a yellow-flowered member of the Gentian family. It grows from ten to fifty centimetres tall with stiff, branching stems. The leaves are glaucous, opposite and entire, the upper ones perfoliate, being united at the base. It bears terminal cymes of bright yellow, stalked flowers, 1–1.5 cm across. The calyx is deeply divided into 6–10 linear lobes or sepals, spirally arranged, free or nearly free from each other at the base and shorter than the corolla. The petals number six to ten and form a short tube. There are six to ten adherent stamens and a two-lobed stigma. It flowers from June to October in Britain where it is widespread but not common. Link Its main habitats are lowland calcareous grasslands and fixed sand dunes, but it can be an abundant colonist of disturbed ground, including quarries and railway cuttings, and on road verges and pathsides. There has been little change in the overall distribution of this species since the 1962 Atlas, although it has spread into Northumberland since then. Link

More naturalised Columbines growing on the chalk showing large variation in flower shape and colour.

Ordnance Survey documents indicate that a rivet benchmark levelled at 13.426m above Newlyn Datum was verified in 1961 on a culvert at the junction of the stream on the left hand side of the track and the fence

By 3rd February 2021, 5 months after this photo was taken, there was a further landslip in this location leading to closure of the footpath and cycle route NZ1264 : Landslip on south bank of River Tyne "A section of the Keelman's Way, the popular walking and cycling route linking Wylam with Gateshead Quays, has had to be closed due to the imminent risk of the river bank collapsing. The Keelman's Way, which follows the south bank of the River Tyne all the way from Wylam to Gateshead Quays, has had to be closed after large cracks and collapses of the river bank have affected the stability of the path. The decision to close the footpath was taken in the interests of public safety and will mean that there will be no direct pedestrian or cycle access between Wylam railway station and Ryton for the foreseeable future. Closure signs are now being erected and a diversion route is being devised, though this is likely to be lengthy. Network Rail, whose main Newcastle-Carlisle rail line runs close to the footpath, has also been alerted. Gateshead Council has been monitoring the erosion of the river bank east of Wylam railway station for some years since changes were observed in the flow of the River Tyne which were leading to increased erosion of the south bank of the river. The land on which the erosion is taking place - and on which the Keelman's Way runs -  is privately-owned. Options for the long term future of the riverside path will now need to be examined." Link

See description on earlier photo NZ1264 : Erosion of south bank of River Tyne This photo, taken shortly after the landslip that resulted in closure of the Keelman's Way, shows the collapse of a section of the fence erected for safety. In this section the path occupies a narrow space between the river cliff and the Newcastle-Carlisle railway line.

Nearing the top of the Spetchells from the track that rises gradually from the north-east side.

Although geology left no chalk rocks in Northumberland, strangely the county does have one area of chalk grassland, the Spetchells. Spetchells, is an old name of uncertain origin, originally applied to the area of rough grassland and scrub along the south bank of the River Tyne near Prudhoe which was traditionally used for recreation. According to Northumberland Words by Richard Oliver Heslop (1894), a spetchel or spatchel was the thin layer of turf laid between horizontal rows of stones used in building a wall ('a stone and spetchel dike'). The name is now associated with the 1km long mound of calcium carbonate dumped between the River Tyne and the railway as industrial waste by ICI as the result of manufacturing ammonium sulphate for fertiliser and explosives during World War II. The plant closed in 1963. The process involved using calcium sulphate obtained from powdered natural gypsum, or anhydrite, added to a solution of ammonium carbonate. Calcium carbonate precipitates out from the reaction Link The Spetchells are estimated to comprise two and a half million tons of this chalk. The dump was turfed over to make it less obvious to German bombers. Ash and sycamore trees were planted on the slopes, and hornbeams on the top, in an attempt to stabilise the mounds. The Spetchells now support plants typical of the ungrazed chalk grasslands of southern England, and a specialised chalk-loving fauna has also arrived, including rare butterflies and moths. Link Link Archive Link Link Archive Link

A collection of photographs taken around midday by Geographers from all over Britain and Ireland. See all the images on the map: Link

Looks like another driftwood sculpture by James Doran Webb (see NZ1265 : Rearing Stallion driftwood sculpture, Close House Golf Course)