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There's nothing immediately attractive about stone-terraced WOOLER , a grey one-street market town twenty miles north of Rothbury, though its proximity to the Cheviot Hills does much to lift the spirits. Local walks provide an introduction to the range, with a particular favourite being the one-mile hike to the top of Humbleton Hill, site of a battle in 1402 in which Hotspur inflicted heavy casualties on forces of the Douglas clan. But to get into the heart of the hills you'll have to tackle the trek to The Cheviot itself, seven miles to the southwest and 2674ft above sea level. Starting out from Wooler youth hostel, count on four hours up, a little less back - your reward, an utterly bleak spot with views, on a clear day, to the coast, the castles at Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh, and over to Holy Island. If you're fully prepared for a long day's walking, on the west side of the peak you can join the Pennine Way at Scotsman's cairn. Here, you're about seven miles south of the trail end at the Scottish village of Kirk Yetholm , where there's a youth hostel (tel 01573/420631, ; closed Sept to mid-March), down a lane off the village green, and several B&Bs. Wooler is also a staging-post on St Cuthbert's Way , which runs west from the town to Kirk Yetholm and Melrose, and northeast to Holy Island. Wooler's bus station is set back off the High Street. Over the road, the tourist office at 16 Market Place (Easter-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-1pm & 2-5pm, Sun 10am-2pm; tel 01668/282123) can help with walking information. There are a couple of good central B&Bs : Tilldale House , 34 High St (tel 01668/281450, ; no credit cards; under GBP40), which has spacious en-suite rooms and serves a wide choice of evening meals; and Winton House , just off the High Street at 39 Glendale Rd (tel 01668/281362, ; no credit cards; GBP40-50; closed Dec-Feb), a stone-built Edwardian house with garden, owned by a friendly couple who can give information on local walks and provide a packed lunch, too. For a bit more luxury, try the ivy-encrusted Tankerville Arms on Cottage Road (tel 01668/281581, ; GBP70-90), a seventeenth-century coaching inn just off the A697 below town, which has a good restaurant overlooking the attractive garden and a wide range of bar meals . Wooler also has a comfortable youth hostel at 30 Cheviot St (tel 01668/281365, ), a five-minute walk up the hill from the bus station, as well as a campsite , Highburn House on Burnhouse Road (tel 01668/281344; closed Nov-Feb), just north of town, about half a mile from the bus station.
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