The Monkside Dewey habit

On top of Monkside.

So, it was a bright sunny day. Plan was to bag a Dewey hill in Kielder Forest. 

I started off just south of Kielder castle and cycled past Gowanburn. It was here that something didn't "feel" right with the route, but I carried on. Later I found that the Border County Ride track had been re-pathed closer to Bakethin Reservoir then my old map showed.

The forest tracks wasn't a problem until I stated the climb up Pleshetts towards Wainhope, then a very stoney track made cycling hard and it was soon off and giving the bike a push; when the pushing stopped and the cycling began it was in the granny gears. 

The final section to the top of Monkside was steep track and loose gravel making pushing the bike even harder them pedelling it. What an unusual top Monkside is! It's paved with blocking and has electric hook-up points. To all intents and purpose it's a caravan site!  Strange.

The bike ride back was fast, furious and dangerous ;-) It was in some sections here that I found the "proper" Border Ride Route.  All told about 4 hours in the sun, but I was knackered.

From Monkside overlooking towards Pell Fell.