With storm Ciara on her way, and warnings galore, I thought I'd take myself on a fairly low-level wander this weekend, and when a friend revealed she was off to Allendale for the day, it didn't take me long to ask for a lift Time to tackle the first section of the intriguingly named 'Isaac's Tea Trail'. I'd seen the path and indeed the name on my OS maps whenever I'd been up this way to bag Hewitts, but had never bothered to find out what it was all about. Turns out the tea trail is a well-trodden 36-mile circular walk, following in the footsteps of 19th-century miner, turned itinerant tea-seller and local philanthropist, Isaac Holden.

From Allendale Town it was off along the path running beside the River East Allen, and though the wind was already whipping-up, the weather was pleasant, sunny, and quite warm. The path winds its way up and down gentle slopes and between farms (presumably Isaac's customers) before eventually rising onto the wild and windswept Allendale Common.

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

As part of my project to tick-off every hill on my 'local' maps, I left the path and traipsed over the moor to reach the Subdodd that is Knockshield Moor, before returning pretty much the same way to rejoin the tea trail. A more pleasant (?) route would have been to continue across the moor to Blackway Head and Scum Hill ( ) but I wanted to make sure I'd not missed any of the Tea Trail route (pedant) so I rejoined near Nan Davison's Cleugh, and continued on my way. The weather became a lot more interesting, and for the rest of the walk I found myself leaning into the wind, all layers on. The trail passes under The Dodd, and I recalled a similar time last year when I was up here to bag a few Hewitts - the conditions (and boggy ground) were considerably worse back then, so I had little to complain about today.

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Isaac’s Tea Trail - Section One by Christopher Watson, on Flickr

Once past the fence-line that runs up to The Dodd, the Tea Trail descends roughly into Nenthead, the end of this first stage. Next time we're looking at poor weather and a free afternoon, I'll pop back over here and take-up the path again, from Nenthead to Alston. When I look at my maps of this part of the North Pennines, it's satisfying to see a good number of the Hewitts climbed, most of the little hills ticked-off, and perhaps best of all, many of them joined by lots of lower-level walks. There's nothing better than feeling like I've 'got to know' an upland area fairly intimately, and it was nice to toast the day with a cup of tea in Nenthead