REPORT OF THE MEETINGS FOR 1897 153 



perhaps a settlement of one Eada. Farther on, the Camphouse 

 marks the site of a Roman camp, of which the southern and 

 northern faces are still clearly defined, but the plough has 

 obliterated entirely the eastern and partly the western. Nearby 

 to the south-east is a field known as Dead Men's Graves, which, 

 as tradition has it, was the burial place of the slain in some for- 

 gotten conflict, and the site, as Hodgson, in his History, 

 suggests, for the baronial residence of the baronry of Whalton, 

 if ever there was one. It is the highest point of the ridge from 

 Morpeth till it rises again at Bolam. The view is very ex- 

 tensive in every direction. 



The road now begins to descend into the valley of the Blyth, 

 and passes through the village of Whalton, the entrance to 

 which is marked by timbered hedgerows and groups of Beech 

 and Sycamore, giving a truly sylvan aspect to the picturesque 

 village, so pleasantly situated on the southern side of the high 

 ridge hitherto traversed. A brief halt was made, while the 

 members walked through the Rectory gardens and saw the 

 quaint old 13th century Church, with its grey massive tower, 

 surrounded by tall elms and great sycamores, the nesting place 

 of a numerous rookery. These trees were planted a little more 

 than 100 years ago. The swing bridge ingeniously constructed 

 to cross over the Newcastle road, a fosse some 12 feet deep, for 

 the convenience of the Rector and his family, was not unnoticed. 



The journey was continued through the pretty village, with its 

 village green, famous in the law courts, and also for its 

 midsummer bonfire, and down through rich grazing lands 

 to the Blyth, which is crossed by a ford at Trewick. The 

 southern bank of the river is steep, and rises for about 

 half-a-mile till Hetchester is reached, a small hamlet be- 

 longing to Sir Arthur E. Middleton, Bart., Belsay. There is no 

 trace left of the station which its name suggests. Half-a-mile 

 further on and Belsay is passed on the left, and we join the 

 "new line" as the old coach road, by which the Chevy Chase 

 ran from Newcastle to Edinburgh, is still called. 



It is interesting to note that Mr W. B. Boyd of Faldonside, 

 as he told us, travelled on the very last trip that the Chevy 

 Chase ran. The stage coach was defeated, the railway won 

 in the race. Harnham, once a fortified residence, situated 

 on the north side of the road, on a bold wooded eminence which 

 Wallis thought had some resemblance to " one of the fine 



