Secluded valley with wild ponies where only 12 cars allowed daily | UK | Travel
You can stay within the estate for £17 a night (Image: PA)
Tucked away in the Northumberland hills lies the lush College Valley, teeming with stunning wildlife and ancient remains.
Maintained by the College Valley Estate, this expanse of countryside is impeccably preserved and readily accessible for both walkers and cyclists.
Wandering through the meadows, you’ll encounter wild ponies, roe deer, hares and wild goats, according to Northumberland National Park.
Hethlpool
Parking at the Hethpool car park allows you to discover remnants of an Iron Age stone circle. Visitors can enjoy picnics along Great Hetha with ancient fortifications overlooking the Hethpool Linn Pools, perfect for a refreshing dip during summer months, reports Chronicle Live.
Come autumn, you can witness sea trout and salmon jumping upstream en route to their spawning areas.
Approximately 2,800 years ago, throughout the Iron Age, settlements built timber roundhouses surrounded by robust wooden palisades. Facing Hethpool House stands an exceptionally well-preserved Romano-British settlement.
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College valley offers a complete retreat into nature (Image: newcastle chronicle)
History
People have lived in this area for at least 7,000 years, with traces of late Stone Age agricultural communities.
Throughout the early Bronze Age, when conditions were warmer than today, farming reached higher altitudes. Multiple terraced fields and countless burial cairns survive from this era.
Given its closeness to Scotland, the valley experienced significant suffering during hostilities between English and Scottish armies throughout the 14th to 16th centuries. Border Reiver attacks resulted in widespread plundering of the land.
Hillforts
Two wild female ponies fight for dominance of the herd in Long Mynd, Shropshire. Two wild female ponies stand on their hind legs as they battle for dominance of the herd. Wildlife photographer Andrew Fusek Peters, 59, captured the ‘vicious’ fight unfolding on the Long Mynd in Shropshire last week. The two females are seen squaring up to each other before the grey ‘challenger’ launches at her white rival. The pair are pictures biting and kicking at each other’s necks as they fight for the crown of leader of the herd. (Image: Andrew Fusek Peters / SWNS)
Northumberland boasts Britain’s highest density of hillforts. College Valley is no exception.
Scattered throughout the Cheviot Hills, these ancient Iron Age fortifications provide a glimpse into prehistoric settlements.
As a bonus they also offer superb vantage points across the undulating hills.
Wildlife
Covering more than 12,000 acres, College Valley has an abundance of wildlife including plants, trees, birds and even Exmoor ponies to admire.
Be warned – there is virtually no phone signal and just 12 cars are permitted in daily. If you want a longer time immersing yourself in nature you can book one of the many holiday cottages available.
You can see everything from the extinct volcano Cheviot Massif to the enchanting Collingwood Oaks.
Tucked away at the valley’s head, just a mile from the Pennine Way, sits Mounthooly Bunkhouse.
Accommodating 24 guests across three rooms, this charming Bunkhouse provides walkers, cyclists and all travellers with unique lodgings in a beautifully remote corner of the valley.
With beds available from £17 per night, you might be tempted to prolong your stay and discover more of what the valley offers knowing you can return home to hot showers and a log burner.
One TripAdvisor review read: “What a wonderful valley to visit, either walk or to drive through, they only allow 12 cars a day to drive through and you need a permit £10 you can book online.
“It was so peaceful and in May the colour of the gorse it just beautiful. The memorial to the pilots that crashed during WW2 over the Cheviot Hills is so moving.”
