Tank Spinney

A lonesome pine standing tall in a much younger block of forestry.

Donald's Grave is apparently the name of this boundary stone on the south side of the minor road that runs from Kiln Pit Hill on the A68 to Blanchland, 10m east of the Coal Road (track) that leads north-west through the grounds of Slaley Hall. The stone is Grade II Listed (List Entry Number: 1045376) and is described as: "Probable boundary marker, C18th or perhaps a reworking of a more ancient stone. Gritstone. Roughly-cut monolith of trapezoidal plan, exposed height 0.9 metres. East face with incised B; north face with remains of incised design, possibly a cross within a circle; west face incised A (laid sideways) and S." See closer photo here NZ0054 : Donald's Grave near Esper Shields (detail) Local researchers think the stone may be an allotment marker from the Bulbeck Common Award (1771) which was divided between George Silvertop of Minsteracres (S) and George Baker (B), the Lord of the Manor. It has also been suggested that Donald's Grave may have originally been mapped on the north side of the road but the nature of the feature represented by the name is not specified. There are two further named stones just to the north, possibly on the same boundary: Greyhound Stone (which I couldn't find) and Hare Stone, an C18th boundary stone. All 3 stones are named on the 1st Edition 6" OS Map Northumberland, 104 (1864): Link Only Donald's Grave is represented on current large scale mapping. The Hare Stone is also Listed Grade II (List Entry Number: 1370318) said to be marked B (Blanchland) on south-west, and S (Slaley) on north-east side NY9955 : The Hare Stone near Slaley Hall The hill in the field beyond the wall is named Hairy Side.

See description here NZ0054 : Donald's Grave near Esper Shields

Signs at the entrance to the eastern end of Slaley Forest warn of a number of closed tracks as a diamond-shaped section of the plantation was being actively clear-cut. The noise of chainsaws filled the air, which a tractor dragged cut logs on a trailer, using a crane to lift these into stacks. A big road-legal timber truck was the other side of the logpile using its own crane to take them off again and away to become glamourous new products like fenceposts or newsprint.

A byway is shown on maps running roughly east-west for a kilometre and a half in this area of Slaley Forest, but on the ground, the line it supposedly takes is just densely planted forest. Instead, one is obliged to take a longer route via a number of SW-NE and SE-NW forest tracks such as this one, which are not rights of way of any description (though the bulk of the forest is CROW Access Land).

The route to the right is supposedly a byway, though the line of that right of way some way ahead seems to have been wholly effaced by the forest leaving only rather longer routes on the forest tracks (with signage making clear that these are not for vehicles). The route to the left is one of these tracks, and the one we have just taken to reach this point (in the absence of any trace of the byway we'd intended to use starting about two kilometres away).

View of the hotel across the golf course.

Looking north along the dirt road to Slaley Hall. I've no idea what the tanks are for, probably water storage for the hall.

A spur in the forest, in use as a control site for an orienteering event.

Taken looking north just south of the house mapped at Hilltop which is just visible left of centre through the trees.