June 2024 Karen and I decided to explore northeast England and ride the Northumberland 250. Day 1 Ride from Stockton to the Gun at Ridsdale where we would spend the night.
I did the 250 starting on 2nd Jun, riding from home to start at Rookhope via barnard castle and stanhope similar to yourself. I stayed at the Masons arms in Norham overnight, then back to allenheads and home the next day via St Johns chapel then middleton for a total of 497 mainly enjoyable miles in the 2 days which flew by even though i wasn't gunning it, although i did run short of juice when i reached otterburn so had to double back and go 8 miles to Bellingham to be safe, as some locals told me there was'nt anywhere else near, but hey-ho lesson learned. I know what you mean about those sheep, so annoying !! even when you beep your horn when getting close they just look at you funny and carry on eating in the middle of the road as you crawl past. If i was designing the route, i would'nt do so much on the A68, id pick a few more lanes, as there was a fair bit of traffic when i was there probably because it was a nice day and a sunday, but at least the sun was shining and the scenery great. Nice to see it from someone else's perspective, i'll keep an eye out for the next one, and mark the gun down as a possible stayover for future, looks great. GL and thanks.
Thanks for the comment, we generally try to go mid week as the roads are quieter. We start Wednesday and return at the weekend and usually see lots of bikes going the other way. The next stage takes us to the coast.
I did the 250 starting on 2nd Jun, riding from home to start at Rookhope via barnard castle and stanhope similar to yourself. I stayed at the Masons arms in Norham overnight, then back to allenheads and home the next day via St Johns chapel then middleton for a total of 497 mainly enjoyable miles in the 2 days which flew by even though i wasn't gunning it, although i did run short of juice when i reached otterburn so had to double back and go 8 miles to Bellingham to be safe, as some locals told me there was'nt anywhere else near, but hey-ho lesson learned. I know what you mean about those sheep, so annoying !! even when you beep your horn when getting close they just look at you funny and carry on eating in the middle of the road as you crawl past. If i was designing the route, i would'nt do so much on the A68, id pick a few more lanes, as there was a fair bit of traffic when i was there probably because it was a nice day and a sunday, but at least the sun was shining and the scenery great. Nice to see it from someone else's perspective, i'll keep an eye out for the next one, and mark the gun down as a possible stayover for future, looks great. GL and thanks.
Thanks for the comment, we generally try to go mid week as the roads are quieter. We start Wednesday and return at the weekend and usually see lots of bikes going the other way. The next stage takes us to the coast.