The Dirty Bottles

Alnwick Waterside Trail and the Pastures

Two miles from The Alnwick Garden car park down through the Pastures to the River Aln, west along the bank to the four-arch Lion Bridge with the Percy lion on its parapet, and back up under the castle walls. This is the Waterside Trail published by Northumberland Estates, who own the ground, and it is the walk to do in Alnwick with a dog, because the estate's other big option, Hulne Park, bans dogs outright. Grass and gravel path, gently rolling, one gate. The estate's own instruction is that much of this land is a conservation area, so dogs are to be kept under strict control, and the trail is currently diverted around the Riverbrook Gardens housing works.