Holy Island & very North Northumberland

A few pics and vids from an outing I had with Joel (usual gateboy, but his birthday this time).

Went all the way to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) on A roads and over the causeway. Back via a selection of green lanes as a research trip for the upcoming Northumberland outing with Brett (Maverick) and a few others, Dave (S200KYS) is missing that trip for obvious reasons. Most of the lanes in these pics/vids are not going to be on that run as they are too far North (and not that exciting to be worth the trek).

Holy Island:


J999MNY itchin' to go...




It even has a green-lane on the island, with a confusing sign:


and a castle and a monastery...



Then needing to get going there was this sign of a vitara in difficulty...


so we got out of there safely

Onto some greenlanes next. About time! it took 3.5 hrs to get to Holy Island!

1st lane then. Not that exciting, but scenic:


another much the same:


Odd bridge on the way with a restriction of 2ton and narrow bollards (no probs in a Jimny however ):


and another, this one has a crossroads halfway, so we decided to take the right and see what it was like (looked more interesting than the left). we returned and carried on:



Next (after a butty/brew stop at a local petrol station) was an unusual concrete ford. Not one for when the waters high...


Onwards to a well maintained (gamekeepers) track with a nice ford in the middle:


Then onto a little used track down to a tricky small ford. Steep in & out and a bit muddy. Nothing we couldn't handle but watch it when waters high:


Next was Brandon on the way to other lanes I forgot to record, so this the last video, but not the last lane, we just carried on


Good day out overall. One mystery thing spotted, wonder if anyone knows what it is? Marked as a 'Radio station' on OS maps:

Are these 'green lanes' open to public traffic. I'm aware that in some parts of England 4WDs are banned.

Nice one! thank you for sharing that!

Riccy nice job lad and thanks for taking the time and effort to share it with us got a "are you watching other people driving jeeps again" form her self so thats like a 5 star rating ....nice one.

Riccy wrote:
Went all the way to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) on A roads and over the causeway.

and a castle and a monastery...

Piece of gold from that monastery was found on a farm near here.. Seems my forefathers raided it in 793 and by that marked the start of the viking era. Sorry about that
A stupid thief stole it from a museum recently and broke a piece of it..
Anyways, we can't complain as we already had stole it i guess

Riccy wrote: Good day out overall. One mystery thing spotted, wonder if anyone knows what it is? Marked as a 'Radio station' on OS maps:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACE_High
Could this be it? See the list for the UK sites..

Thanks guys!

Yakuza: That is a good connection. You need to come and visit it now We will need that gold back after this brexit carry-on
The 'Radio station' isn't one of the ones in your wiki link, but military or aviation would be a likely use. The RAF fly around there a lot so could be related?

Bob1050 wrote: Are these 'green lanes' open to public traffic. I'm aware that in some parts of England 4WDs are banned.

As Lambert says, There are different classifications of routes and only but a few of them have vehicular rights.

I use GLASS's Trailwise mapping system to locate the lanes and view comments (see here: www.trailwise2.co.uk/route/map ). For detailed information and better mapping you need to be a member (£45/year now but worth it). I then check for any restrictions with the council authority (for Northumberland the link to the 'definitive map' is: map.northumberland.gov.uk/prow/ ), similar systems for most other county councils.
I then 'plot' a .GPX route using OS maps online subscription, which I can then use on the phone as a map and GPS to follow my route. I sometimes plot on the paper maps, but still end up needing to transpose onto the computer to use when out. Sounds really complex, but is not that difficult and ensures I am always on a legal route.

The GLASS local area reps generally run newbie days which are a great introduction to the area, people and lanes

Riccy and Lambert - appreciate your feedback and those tracks look very interesting. For serious off-roaders they might not excite - but for a new Jimny owner who is not yet ready to risk trashing a new car, they look appealing and the destination is always stunning.

Riccy wrote: Thanks guys!

Yakuza: That is a good connection. You need to come and visit it now We will need that gold back after this brexit carry-on
The 'Radio station' isn't one of the ones in your wiki link, but military or aviation would be a likely use. The RAF fly around there a lot so could be related?

The GLASS local area reps generally run newbie days which are a great introduction to the area, people and lanes

No Green Laning in Norway sadly, should have been put into a system like you have. Too many people go driving without permits.
The closest i get to any real offroading is snowmobiling for practice in the red cross search and rescue.

There was a Tropo Scatter antenna at Brizlee Wood close to Alnwick, thinking your picture was the base of the old antennas. There is a radar there now. But your picture is from a telecom antenna close to Wooler i guess from what i can find on google..
It was the strange shape that caught my interest so i was thinking it probably had a different use before..
Many wild ideas was put into action and strange contraptions made during the cold war era. Like the BT tower in London not on any maps until the eighties, and top secret facilities all over Norway, but local council named the streets "NATO-road", fascinating stuff. (sorry for the hijacking)

Sure I should come, and bring the gold back of course. Haven't been to Britain since 1986 or 87. Sadly the Bergen-Newcastle ferry has been discontinued for many years. Could be after Brexit it may start again when Norwegian goods will compete at even terms with European. French wine is better though..

yakuza wrote: There was a Tropo Scatter antenna at Brizlee Wood close to Alnwick, thinking your picture was the base of the old antennas. There is a radar there now. But your picture is from a telecom antenna close to Wooler i guess from what i can find on google..
It was the strange shape that caught my interest so i was thinking it probably had a different use before..
Many wild ideas was put into action and strange contraptions made during the cold war era. Like the BT tower in London not on any maps until the eighties, and top secret facilities all over Norway, but local council named the streets "NATO-road", fascinating stuff. (sorry for the hijacking)

Sure I should come, and bring the gold back of course. Haven't been to Britain since 1986 or 87. Sadly the Bergen-Newcastle ferry has been discontinued for many years. Could be after Brexit it may start again when Norwegian goods will compete at even terms with European. French wine is better though..

Yes just to the East of Wooler is where we found that. It just looked odd because it was so big for what was attached to it. Like you say it could have been used for all sorts of things in the past under a semi-veil of secrecy.

You are welcome to come for a visit of course, and a few lanes would be a must!