Cheviot Hills
The Cheviot Hills is a range of rolling hills straddling the England–Scotland border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.
There is a broad split between the northern and the southern Cheviots. The former encompass most of the high ground and are pierced by five main valleys:
The southern Cheviot hills encompass the slopes running down to the valley of the river Coquet.
The Cheviot is the highest hill in the range at 2,674 ft (815 m). Other notable tops are Hedgehope Hill, Windy Gyle, Cushat Law and Bloodybush Edge. Of the hills mentioned, only Windy Gyle has its summit on the border. The rest are all within England. The English section is protected within the Northumberland National Park.
The centre of the range comprises a Devonian granite outcrop surrounded by Silurian and Devonian andesite lava flows on each side. These are in turn intruded by igneous dykes arranged radially around the Cheviot pluton. The surrounding lower ground is formed from Carboniferous Limestone though much of it is obscured by superficial deposist of Quaternary age.[1]
The topography of the hills leads to the summits generally having low relative height. Only three are Marilyns; The Cheviot itself, Shillhope Law and Housedon Hill, a small northern outlier. To the south-west the Cheviots merge into the Kielder Forest group of hills.
The hills were the site of a battle between English and Scottish forces in The Ballad of Chevy Chase.
The Cheviot was first conquered by motorcycle in the early 1930s by two local shepherds, brothers George and Robert Mole, George on an AJS (believed to be a 350, actual model unknown) and Robert on a Francis Barnett (model unknown). They worked in the College valley and regularly took their bikes out on shepherding forays, frequently accommodating a collie on the petrol tank. They went onto the top of Cheviot several times and this was done from the College valley side via Hen Hole.
Access
Most of the range on the English side is mapped as 'open country' and hence there is a general right to roam over it as prescribed in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Traditional rights of access in Scotland, bolstered by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 provide for similar access for the public to the north of the border. In addition, a sparse network of public bridleways and footpaths stretches around the area, often providing useful means of access from the lower ground onto the open hills.
The northernmost leg of the Pennine Way runs from Byrness to Kirk Yetholm. It is the longest, and most exposed, on the whole of the national trail. The Way follows the high level Border Ridge (literally the England–Scotland boundary fence) for nearly 20 miles (30 km) after the ascent to the ridge from Byrness. The terrain is boggy and remote, and two mountain refuge huts are situated on the Way for those too tired or weather-beaten to continue.
Otterburn Army Training Estate
The Otterburn Army Training Estate (ATE) covers about 230 square kilometres of the Southern Cheviots. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and used for training some 30,000 soldiers a year. Otterburn is the UK's largest firing range, and is in frequent use — artillery can be clearly heard from Lindisfarne to the north-east and Fontburn Reservoir in the south. Because of this, recreational use of the area is restricted, although it is possible for the public to use some parts of the estate subject to the relevant bylaws. The MoD publishes a booklet, Walks on Ministry of Defence Lands, which offers advice on this matter (see link below).
Peaks over 500 metres in the Cheviot Hills
The peaks marked with a warning sign (
) lie within the danger area of the ATE Otterburn artillery range.[verification needed]
References
- ^ Northumberland National Park Authority, n.d. "The topology and climate of Northumberland National Park."
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2008) |