Alston Moor

Few golf courses in England sit at quite this altitude or in quite this setting. Alston, in Cumbria, claims the title of England's highest market town, perched in the North Pennines at around 1,000 feet above sea level — and the golf course that bears its name pushes higher still onto the surrounding moorland. That elevation shapes everything: the turf, the weather, the way the wind arrives without warning, and the sweeping views across a landscape that feels genuinely remote.

Moorland golf at this level means firm, fast-running ground for much of the year, natural contours doing the work that earthmovers might do elsewhere, and a routing that makes honest demands without ever feeling manufactured. A par of 68 signals a shorter, tighter test — this is not a course built around length but around placement, patience, and respect for the terrain.

The North Pennines is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and playing here is as much about being in that landscape as it is about the scorecard.