Allen Banks and Staward Gorge
★ In our guides ↓

On Our List

Allen Banks and Staward Gorge

A beautiful wooded gorge with waterside walks, swimming spots and several route options - a genuinely lovely, less crowded corner of Hadrian's Wall country.

Address:

Bardon Mill, Hexham, NE47 7BP
Call:
01434 321888

Hours:

Always open

Map

Good to Know

Allen Banks and Staward Gorge is a National Trust woodland near Bardon Mill, following the River Allen through a deep, wooded gorge. Paths created as Victorian pleasure grounds wind along the river, and longer routes climb to the ruins of Staward Pele, a medieval tower high above the gorge.

Why it's on our list: it's one of the largest areas of ancient woodland in Northumberland, peaceful and far less busy than the Wall itself, with red squirrels, riverside paths and a real sense of escape.

Worth knowing: there's a National Trust car park at the bottom. Paths can be steep and muddy in places, so wear good boots, and choose a route to suit your legs.

A Little Note From Heather & Sand

We haven't quite made it here ourselves yet, but it's on our list!

We're working our way around Northumberland, personally visiting and reviewing as many of the places featured in our Listed section as we can. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

In the meantime, we do our homework. Before adding somewhere to Heather & Sand, we research it, look at what other visitors have to say and check that it has a good reputation. If the feedback isn't encouraging, it generally doesn't make our list.

Of course, a little online research is no substitute for muddy boots, a decent coffee and seeing somewhere for ourselves. So until we've visited, we'll leave the personal review to one side.

A little about us...

Heather & Sand is our little corner of Northumberland — a collection of places, stories, walks and discoveries from a county we love.

Through our Journal, Guide and Listed pages, we hope to help you discover somewhere new, revisit an old favourite or simply enjoy a little Northumberland from wherever you happen to be.

Tom, Lucy & the Heather & Sand crew.

Featured in our guides