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On the coast, and more particularly on the Farne Islands, thousands of pairs of breeding birds fill every possible nook and cranny to rear their young. Most notable are the puffins, with guillemots, shags and razorbills also seen in great numbers. Raucous arctic and sandwich terns, kittiwakes and other members of the gull family are also present. The autumn and winter months are notable for an influx of wildfowl, especially around Budle Bay and Lindisfarne. Be ready for surprises – old gravel pits in Coquetdale have been transformed into wildlife habitats that are now popular with bird-watchers.

The emblem of the Northumberland National Park is a curlew, commonly seen and heard on the moorlands

ACCESS LAND AND THE CROW ACT

When Harold Wade walked the Reivers Way in 1975, he didn’t always follow rights of way. When James Roberts walked the route in 1992, he made sweeping changes to ensure that rights of way were always followed. In a couple of instances, both Wade and Roberts followed roads when they could have used nearby rights of way. Things have changed over the years, and most rights of way are clearly signposted and waymarked. Indeed, a couple of places that once lacked rights of way now have them. Furthermore, large areas of open moorland have been designated ‘access land’ under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000. Routes that Wade ‘trespassed’ upon, and Roberts saw fit to avoid, are now available to walkers, and therefore included in this guidebook.