Grid Reference: NT 973 284

3 words:

The best wind direction for Humbleton is a North Easterly, though there is a short section of the hill that will take an Easterly, even round to East South East.

Height; 298m Top to Bottom; 148m

From the south follow the A697 through Wooler, approximately 2km from Wooler there are some houses on a bend in the road with a left hand turn, signposted to Humbleton, this is just after the back road turn off to Wooler. This is a single track road, please drive with consideration. Follow the track up the hill to a junction with a telephone box.

Take Off

After parking the vehicles continue up the track until you reach a gate on the right hand side (north side. The path up the hill is through the gate and well-defined. Follow the path to the top of the hill, there is a large circular cairn and remnants of an old hill fort. There are grass sections just below the hill fort mounds before the heather and bracken sections, use these areas to take off.

Landing

Top landing and side landing are safe options, though beware the lower you get, the deeper the bracken. The bottom landing is a large area near the wall just before the rough track, land anywhere on the fell side here.

The site is quite small, especially the east and east south east faces, but it produces some good lift even in light winds. In the summer the site can become quite thermic, and somehow manages to stay clear of the sea breeze until late afternoon. There is little in the way of ridge soaring, though an excellent training ground for thermalling. The hills to the west line up very nicely allowing safe and easy hill hopping down the valley, with a nice road for retrieve hitching. Cross country potential is good using the hill hopping route to Kirk Yetholme and then true cross country flying form there.

There are some large boulder fields around the hill fort mounds at take-off, which need to be avoided. The landing area is quite undulating ground, pick your spot carefully. Bracken, not the best with thin lines. There are a couple of small trees on the NE face to be aware of if scratching.

See flights from Humbeldon Hill