Country diary: Hills and valleys where packhorses used to tread | Susie White

Killhope Law, Northumberland: We are following the Carrier's Way, a packhorse route that brought lead ore from one valley to the otherWinter's first sustained frost still hasn't thawed even though it is after noon, so we head up the valley to Allenheads. There the land is bright under a clear sky and it's six degrees warmer.The walk up to Killhope Law begins where a lead smelt mill stood above the East Allen river. Green mounds hint at the archaeology and the short grass of spoil heaps is clipped tight by sheep and rabbits. A long, low bulge like an ancient earthwork runs uphill for about two miles, a 19th-century flue that carried fumes to a long-gone chimney. Continue reading...