Cheviot Hills
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Coordinates: 55°28′41″N 2°09′07″W / 55.478°N 2.152°W
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.png)  Cheviot Hills shown within Northumberland |
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| OS grid reference | NT905205 |
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| List of places: UK • England • Northumberland | |
The Cheviot Hills are a range of rolling hills straddling the England/Scotland border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.
Broadly there is a split between the Northern Cheviots which encompass most of the high ground and has five main valleys
The Southern Cheviot hills encompass the slopes running down to the valley of the river Cocquet.
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 Cheviots are also the northernmost range on the Pennine Way. The final leg from Byrness to Kirk Yetholm is the longest, and most exposed, on the whole route. The Way follows the high level Border Ridge (literally the England/Scotland boundary fence) for nearly 30 miles (50 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.
The hills consist largely of a Devonian granite outcrop with andesite lava flows either side. The surrounding lower ground lies on carboniferous limestone.[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(believe 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.
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[edit] 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).
[edit] 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]
[edit] References
- ^ Northumberland National Park Authority, n.d. "The topology and climate of Northumberland National Park."
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