The 114km route is suitable for hardtail and light full suspension mountain bikes, or if you are a very competent gravel rider, the route could be done on a gravel bike.
Riding up and over the valleys of the Coquet and Breamish, this ride celebrates the terrain that protects our rivers and provides us with ancient drovers roads and singletrack that connects us with friends, old and new.
Rivers have long played a role in the psyche of the British public. Beyond providing services that benefit our everyday lives - clean water, cooling attributes, a space for wildlife - our meandering rivers carry an almost spiritual ability to calm our minds and interact with mother nature on a primal level. Yet, England’s rivers are in trouble. None passed their chemical test in 2020. Not one. Only 14% were classed as having good ecological health. Numbers of the sacred Salmon are on the decline, affecting not only the river, but damaging rural economies, recreation and ecosystems.
Raw sewage outlets are a literal stain on our rivers, and fertiliser runoff from agriculture pour so many nutrients into our rivers that the very oxygen that fish rely on is taken up by invasive plants, leaving the fish struggling to survive.
In the heart of Northumberland lie two rivers that still hang on to their health with a tenacity that is reflected by the communities who manage their banks. The Breamish and the Coquet start in remote uplands that few people venture to. The landscapes that surround them have been managed in the same way for over 6,000 years, yet even here, in England’s most rural county, rivers are changing.
Route type: Long Distance Circular