|
|
|
|
The pretty village of Elsdon has its very own 'cycle cafe' where you can find other cyclists on a sunny day. The wide, open area of the village is divided by the criss-crossing of path and road but the village has a lovely, lazy feel to it.
Conversely, its history and the focal points of the village, the church and churchyard, suggest otherwise. The village has been the venue of many border battles and has seen its fair share of bloodshed and the whole area was a battleground for the Border Reivers, with its cattle thievery and family feuding.
St Cuthbert's Church appears to have been the resting place of many of the English dead in the nearby Battle of Otterburn, for during a church restoration in the 19th century the skeletons of hundreds of men and boys were found. Other bodies in a mass grave were later discovered in another section of the church grounds and too many of the victims of the Battle were found here.
Elsdon has clearly changed from the place where people would once congregate at market time, its present quiet in stark contrast to its past, but a perfect place to stop before tackling the rest of the route. And it's uphill if you're heading northwards. But then it's downhill, so no excuse to linger too long at the cafe.
