In reply to chrisprescott:
Thanks for publicising this issue, the access rep will maybe get in touch with the managers to improve the signage.
This woodland is (or used to be, I'm pretty sure it still is) managed by Scottish Woodlands on behalf of a private landowner, who permits access to pretty much all of it.
It's not any old coniferous woodland which happens to have a brilliant crag in it, the southern part of it is your bog standard sterile Sitka monoculture, but the rest is a historically important Victorian plantation. It's where the dreaded Leylandii was created. It's a decent habitat, I've seen Pine Martins there for example. Deer are culled in these woodlands so that their numbers are kept at a level the forest can sustain. They are not hunted for sport and they aren't being exterminated.
In case anyone's interested, when combined with sheep grazing Roe Deer are a big problem in Northumberland, stopping important woodlands from regenerating. Check out the Lilburn Alders SSSI and the extensive efforts by the farmer & Natural England to try and preserve this remnant of ancient wood pasture.