Coldlaw Hope

A small bridge over the Linhope Burn bathed in low late afternoon sun. This photograph was taken during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020/21/22.

I was told they were doing the Harthope Valley Horseshoe circuit of Cheviot, Comb Fell and Hedgehope from Langleeford in the 'recommended' anti-clockwise direction. I hadn't seen that recommendation but can certainly recommend the walk Link

The peat hags along this ridge rarely dry out but today after a period of little rain it was easy to keep feet dry. There was still water though but largely confined to defined ponds which could be readily jumped.

The top of Hedgehope Hill is just visible above and to the right of the west ridge.

Great Standrop can be seen beyond the fence to the right. Hedgehope Hill is on the left. There is a photo of the fence from the other side here NT9219 : Fence between Hedgehope Hill and Comb Fell

Hedgehope Hill is on the right.

Cold Law Cairn can be seen on the ridge ahead. This can be a very boggy area of peat hags. Compare this photo from 2009: NT9118 : Fence corner , Comb Fell

The fence along the ridge is on the left. Coldlaw Cairn is visible to the left, beyond.

Bright pink exposures of rock by the stream below catch the eye.

See also NT9119 : Ridge of pink igneous rock by upper Harthope Burn

I wasn't sure about my title or description for this interesting geological formation, and was surprised to find that such a prominent feature did not appear to have been previously described or illustrated. It is possible that the ridge alongside the upper Harthope Burn only became uncovered to this extent in recent years, possibly following the large storms in 2009 that caused so much damage in Cheviot valleys further down. An existing geological field guide excursion in the valley has its final site at Harthope Linn (The Cheviot - early Devonian rocks, granite and basement by Peter Allen, Chapter 4, Northumbran Rocks and Landscape: A Field Guide, Yorkshire Geological Society 1995). An email request for assistance in its interpretation sent to the Natural History Society of Northumbria was kindly answered by geologist, Brian Young. Although unfamiliar with the exact location and not having a rock specimen, he offered me the following likely interpretation: "The place shown lies well within the outcrop of the Cheviot Granite as shown by the British Geological Survey 1:50 000 scale Sheet 5 (The Cheviot). The Harthope valley, for much of its course, is determined by a prominent NE-SW trending fault assumed by at least one author to be a shear fault of Hercynian age. My suggestion is that the pink material forming the prominent ridge in your picture is an exposure of granite, almost certainly affected in some way by proximity to this major fault line. A common feature of the rocks of the Cheviot is the local presence of patchy zones of deep alteration which renders the rocks rather soft and prone to erosion. Various theories have been put forward to account for this alteration, though no definitive answer has yet emerged. It is possible that the rock in your picture includes examples of this sort of alteration." A second photo of the outcrop just below the ridge NT9119 : Pink igneous rock outcrop by upper Harthope Burn does give a hint of a shattered rock surface that may indeed be a form of eroded modified granite. I must get back up there and collect a bit for a closer look.

There is another photo of this idyllic spot from 2006 here NT9119 : Tree overhanging Harthope Burn

Looking at this photo I just realised the possible derivation of the name of Comb Fell which is the hill on the far side of the valley. The patches of dark heather running down the hillside towards the Harthope Burn and in the eroded gullies along the valley side do look like teeth of a comb. The true origin though is probably that of 'coomb', a dome-like hill

Coldlaw Cairn can be seen on the ridge to the right. Cushat Law is the hill behind. The hills to its left are Wether Cairn and Hogdon Law.

These falls on the Harthope Burn can be seen from the path and may be confused with Harthope Linn (as a Google image search shows). Harthope Linn is in a much more hidden location to the north-east NT9220 : Harthope Linn below Hedgehope Hill