Country diary: the way through the woods leads to a mysterious grotto

Hartburn, Northumberland Carved into the cliff is a narrow entrance, like a grotesque maskOur footsteps are quieted by fallen leaves as we enter Hartburn Glebe, a curve of ancient semi-natural woodland hugging the steep sides of the Hart Burn. There is something of Kipling's poem The Way Through the Woods about it, a past glimpsed beneath the undergrowth. There was "once a road through the wood". The Devil's Causeway, a Roman road that ran north-east to the Tweed, passed through here, seen now as a holloway under woodrush and conifers. Related: The 10 best woods and forests for views Continue reading...