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Dist:0.4km<br/>Near Station Sawmills.
©Walter Baxter
Dist:0.4km<br/>This chap was scratching about in the road when I drove past and did not deign to move. By the time I returned he and his entourage had moved to the verge. Is he a Black Orpington?
©Stephen Richards
Dist:0.4km<br/>Suggestive of industrial use, gravel pit? Or something to do with the nearby sawmill.
©Richard Webb
Dist:0.4km<br/>There is a sawmill behind the trees.
©Richard Webb
Dist:0.6km<br/>A house of c1840. Grade II listed.
©Stephen Richards
Dist:0.7km<br/>Arable land beneath Bewick Moor.
©Richard Webb
Dist:0.8km<br/>Near Station Cottages. A site visitor adds:- On Hedgeley Moor. "The 25th of April 1464 AD, Battle of Hedgeley Moor Morpeth, Northumberland Although the Lancastrian cause had probably been fatally wounded at Towton three years earlier, the body was still twitching with pockets of resistance in the North East (Alnwick Castle and Bamburgh in Percy territory held out). There were also individuals with grudges and grievances who could be exploited by the ever determined Queen Margaret. The Duke of Somerset had sided again in 1464 with the deposed Henry VI (or more truthfully with Margaret), and had moved to the Lancastrian strongholds in Northumberland. Edward IV was seeking to cut off the Scottish support for the red rose side by negotiations to be held in York, whence Montagu was sent with an army, either to guard the Scots envoys or to encounter the Lancastrians. The two forces met on the 25th of April 1464 on the moors between Wooler and Morpeth, the Lancastrians under Somerset with some 5,000 men, the Yorkists under Montagu perhaps 1,000 stronger. Somerset had the sense to occupy high ground and await the enemy as archers exchanged fire. When Montagu did advance one flank of the Lancastrian force under Roos and Hungerford turned tail and ran. The division headed by Somerset quickly followed in a rout, leaving a small force led by Ralph Percy with his retainers to perish in a futile act of defiance." from The Wars Of The Roses, J.R.Landik.
©Walter Baxter
Dist:0.8km<br/>This is where Ralph Percy is reputed to have been brought down. There are a number of stories surrounding the battle including that Sir Ralph's horse leapt some thirty feet during the charge that brought the great man down. Stones were erected to mark the spot and these can still be seen in the small enclosure at 'Percy's Leap' where illustrative boards explain the battle. The stones are still their but not included in this photograph.
©David Clark
Dist:0.8km<br/>The two stones that mark the reputed place where Percy's horse leapt and dismounted him.
©David Clark
Dist:0.9km<br/>Looking towards Old Bewick.
©Walter Baxter
Dist:0.9km<br/>In mid April 1464, Sir John Neville was marching North to attend meetings with Scottish envoys at Newcastle. His popularity meant that supporters flocked to his banner throughout the journey and by the time he left Newcastle, he was in charge of an army numbering five of six thousand men. At Hedgley Moor on the 25th of April he met a rebel force, consisting mainly of Lancastrians the King had pardoned, returned to their true colours. The Duke of Somerset commanded the Lancastrians and amongst their number were Sir Ralph Percy, Lord Roos, Hungerford, and Grey. The Lancastrian army was five thousand strong, but morale was not as high as in the Yorkish camp. The battle began with the normal exchange of archer fire between the two armies. Montagu then advanced across the 1,500 yards of moor land, only to be forced to halt and readjust his lines when the Lancastrian left flank, under Lord Roos and Hungerford, some 2,000 men faltered, broke and scattered. The whole Lancastrian force gave way when the Yorkists clashed with their line. Pushed back by weight of numbers all but a few of the remaining Lancastrians fled the field. Sir Ralph Percy stayed with his household retainers and made a brave last stand. But, deserted by the rest of the army, including all the other commanders he was soon slain.
©David Clark
Dist:1.0km<br/>The road heads towards Roddam, through a landscape with many hillocks and mounds. Jubilee Wood is on the right.
©Stephen Richards
Dist:1.0km<br/>
©Walter Baxter
Dist:1.0km<br/>A lone horse nibbles at some grass behind Wooperton House.
©Stephen Richards
Dist:1.0km south<br/>Often passed on the A697 at Hedgley Moor, north of Powburn and close to Wooperton station..
©David Clark

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