Opting for a quiet life after running an upmarket guest house for merchant navy officers in South Shields for 28 years, Joyce and Colin Taylor decided to spend their retirement days in the forest-fringed village of Byrness, five miles south of the Scottish border.
After buying a house next door to a youth hostel, they discovered that the village was a much-used rest stop for many walkers tackling the Pennine Way long-distance trail. Then, as they told STEWART BONNEY, an unexpected new business opportunity arose.

Naturalist JOHN STEELE and STEWART BONNEY take an autumn walk through Happy Valley, three miles south-west of Wooler, a scenic riverside area containing a variety of mixed woodland full of autumn colour, before crossing high, open moorland to reach a unique oak wood.

Samuel Hood is a keen young naturalist who has also become a prizewinning wildlife photographer. His early progress has been followed by BRIAN MOORHEAD.