Great Hetha

When bagging hills around the College Valley, Hethpool is a perfect place to park and so when planning my routes I always ended up with Great Hetha being the last hill to climb as it was nearby to the car.

However I tend to underestimate how my legs are going to feel towards the end of the day and so I had to put off bagging Great Hetha on two occasions.

Great Hetha actually ended up being my last bagging of the Cheviot 99 Challenge and it was a belta to finish on.

However I nearly aborted again as I had just bagged 5 hills, also climbing the Hen Hole and the Doddington Milk Bar was closing soon so I had to make a decision.

Fortunately I managed to get up to the top of Great Hetha and get down again in time for a strawberry milkshake.

Look at that smashing hillfort on the top too!

Although it's a canny climb, the route there is very easy. Follow the path down the valley for 600m and then look for a fingerpost pointing the way to Great Hetha. Then there are little waymarker posts all the way to the top.

Follow the route above or find it on OS Maps. Around 1.6km and 215m of climbing.

Follow On OS Maps

Great Hetha also has a pal further down the slopes called Little Hetha, but it was either visit that or get a milkshake. Sorry Little Hetha, but will see you next time!

Also here is Great Hetha from the winter looking fabulous in a sprinkling of snow.