Brancepeth to Rag Path Wood
Filed under: OtherDistance: 12 Miles
Start: Brancepeth Station Car Park on the Brandon to Bishop Auckland Railway line (GR NZ219382)
Click to view start position on Google Maps
Map: Explorer 308 – Durham and Sunderland
On quite a few earlier waiks I have highlighted some excellent reclamation work which has been carried out in the county, often on old colliery sites or railway lines and indeed this is to some extent a theme on this walk. The difference is that here much of the landscape change has been the result of open cast mining operations This walk is virtually entirely rural, yet a person doing the same route 50 years ago would have seen a totally different picture!
We start at the old railway station of Brancepeth on the Brandon to Bishop Auckland Railway Walk. The station was built in the mid 19th century to serve the estate village of Brancepeth which had been constructed to improve the route into Brancepeth Castle (visited on my Weardale Way – Sunderland Bridge to Page Bank walk). The line was built to carry coal and coke and was conceived by George Hudson who was known as the Railway King. However his empire had collapsed before the line was completed. The line incorporated the Durham City viaduct and was closed to passenger traffic in 1958.
We proceed east along the line, turning to Littlewhite Farm and continuing to Scripton Gill. This narrow wood has: some good birdlife and some fine oak trees of a reasonable age and considering the proximity to Brandon is a pleasant spot. We follow the gill uphill to Pithouse East Plantation which on a clear day is a fine viewpoing over much of northern Durham as well as the nearby Deerness Valley. On the ascent keep an eye or an ear open for the woodpeckers and squirrels that live in the woods through which you pass.
We now begin to drop down towards the Deerness, noting Ushaw College in front of us on the other side of the valley. This is the primary centre of the Roman Catholic Church for the training of priests in Northern England having been established in 1808 after earlier locations at Pontop Hall (passed on my Pontop Pike Walk) as well as Crook Hall near Lanchester.
We emerge at the road frorn New Brancepeth to Esh. New Brancepeth had a large colliery which opened in 1856 and mined coal from a depth of 70 fathoms. It closed in 1953 and for its last few years also mined fluorspar. We now go west to Ragpath Wood. This general area is good for Tree Sparrows which are a threatened species.
Rag Path Wood
We now enter Ragpath Wood where the road turns sharply downhill to the river. This wood was purchased by the Woodland Trust in 1996 following an approach by concerned local residents regarding its long-term future. It is an Ancient Woodland site which was replanted in 1967 following the old site being felled during WW2. It occupies a site of 31 hectares and currently consists of Scots Pine, Larch, Norway Spruce, Sycamore, Beech and some Oak and Birch. The long term plan is to harvest the softwood and replace it with hardwood and restore the wood to its former glory. The undergrowth is of Heather, Bilberry, Gorse and Broom whilst near the river can be found Wood Anenome, Wood Sorrel, Butterburr and Ransoms. It also contains some fine ancient beech trees along the southern edge of the wood at its westward end. This wood has been developed by the Trust with financial help from Durham County Council, the local Parish Council and Durham City Council and was aided by a grant of £17k from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The bridle path which you go through at the southern edge of the wood is thought to be an old Roman road which had defensive purposes and followed the ridge east to west. There was a similar one on the other side of the valley which went down to the site occupied many years later by the monks at Beaurepaire (Bearpark).
We emerge from the wood near the River Deerness with the Deerness Valley Walk on the other side of the river. This railway was opened in 1858 to carry coal out of the valley and had branch lines to New Brancepeth, Cornsay, Stanley Crook (up a steep incline), Hedleyhope and Ushaw Moor and was closed in 1951, except on one day a year when it was open on miners gala day. Esh Winning on the other side derives its name from Esh (a corruption of Ash) and was the place where the coal was won. There has been considerable environmental work carried out here with new plantations and hedgerows and it is through one of these plantations that we go, later passing the site of earlier drift mines to Baal Hill. This unusual name, associated with pagan gods and the Middle East may have a history and indeed there is another Baal Hill near Tunstall Reservoir. However the name may also be a local mining term.
River Deerness at Esh
Stay on the south of the River Deerness passing a row of houses and through an attractive area to reach a footpath leading to Baal Hill (at GR 186408) and climb up for 100 metres. Continue south of Baal Hill and drop down through pleasant woods to two small lakes at Stockley Beck, then turn east to eventually pass Stockley Fell Farm and reach Stockley Lane. Crossing this we go south along the site of Dere Street (with the village of Oakenshaw to the east) and the path is followed to Holland Hall. This is on the site of another Roman road which joined Dere Street about half a mile to the west. We now pass Park House on the line of the Roman road to arrive at Stockley Lane near to the Railway walk.
It is now a short distance back to the start, crossing Stockley Beck, where the valley is now much enlarged. This deep valley formed part of the defences for Brancepeth Castle. Much of the land traversed from Pit House and back from Esh has in the past 30 years been subject to opencast mining and this can be noted on the new stone walls and new hedgerows.
“The Early Start” or “A Day to Remember” on the Calderdale Way
Filed under: OtherAs you go through life you make many observations of both people and places. The latter often show significant changes, but the same cannot be said of people. The clown at school is still the clown at parties many years hence and the following account, which is all true, illustrates this well!
At the time of this walk which was in the 1980s, we had all known each other for a considerable time and in the intervening years, whilst some are not as capable of doing the distances we did then, we are still capable of causing considerable chaos whether it be long distance walks or cycle rides. The write-up was from Harry Waters who was not out on that day and possibly felt superior because of it. How wrong he was, as was witnessed a few years later on the Five Sisters of Kintail in Scotland – but that is another story, which he would not write about!
The section to be walked was a 13/14 mile easy part of the Calderdale Way, close to Halifax. Sunday morning for the keen, intrepid walkers of Whickham. Bill Gallon, never the best riser around, was picking up Ken, Alan L, John and Brian at 7:20am. Well, I should say he picked up Ken, Alan and John, but as usual something had to go wrong. Brian was still sound asleep in his bed! He was on a course of antibiotics for a wracking cough, which made him sleepy and have diarrhoea; but personally I’ve never known him to be otherwise.
After waking Brian, and half the street, and after a seemingly endless delay, Brian eventually extracted himself from bed and house and duly reported to his knocker-uppers. He was then asked, as there were too many people for Bill’s car, if it was possible for him to use his car as well. As usual, Brian did not have his front door key, so after getting his wife and half the street out of bed again, he eventually found his car keys. Alan and John were already in the car (the door lock was not working properly). Alas and alac, to Brian’s dismay, he had brought out the wrong set of keys! He is an affluent type with two cars! Once again, half the street and his wife arose to ensure that this time he did have the right set of keys.
The next stage was to drive to Durham to meet up with another Alan (Stewart), who lives in Chester le Street, but arranged to meet them at Durham (sounds complex). However, as they approached the outskirts of the city, Brian suddenly exclaimed “Dearie me, I’ve forgotten my boots” or words to that effect. Confusion, speechlessness and unprintable words followed, but after the initial shock they decided to carry on, meet the others first and then decide what action to take. On arriving at Durham, instead of finding Bill with his car along with Ken and Alan S, Bill was nowhere to be seen! “Where is Bill?” asked Brian, Alan L and John to which Ken replied “He’s gone back home to Whickham!” “Why?” they asked in dismay. “For petrol” said Ken. “Why couldn’t he get some on the way?” “Because he’s forgotten the key for his petrol cap!” Ken replied. With good foresight they rang Bill’s wife who woke up their son and dispatched him forthwith to Brian’s house for his boots. By this time Brian’s wife and half the street were up in any case.
Eventually, on Bill’s return with petrol and boots they set off in Alan and Bill’s cars, leaving Brian’s car in Durham – it’s a little old and the other two were modern and reliable. It is a lengthy journey to Halifax and it was already getting late. However, first of all they had to pick up Neville from Darlington, who would be waiting for them at Scotch Corner. When they arrived, Neville was nowhere to be seen, so after more delay they decided to go on without him. Unbeknown to them, Neville had arrived at the pick-up point some ten minutes late, having spent the previous night at his parent’s home in Teesdale, and assuming that he had missed them, set off in hot pursuit.
The happy walkers at long last reached their starting point some two hours late. The plan was to split up into two groups with one lot at point A at one end of the section and the other group at point B at the other end. Hopefully, sometimes by luck and sometimes by skill, the two groups would meet each other half way, give or take a couple of miles, and swap car keys, enabling them to reach the cars and sometimes have to find them with the correct set of keys. Simple really!
Funnily enough, four miles into the walk the lads from Whickham suddenly bumped into Neville, jogging towards them. Having failed to meet up with them at the start, he realised that once he had reached the end of the day’s section, his only option would probably be to retrace his steps and jogging was the only answer if he was to have any chance of returning to his car before nightfall.
May I add that all the lads had a great day and an enjoyable walk and reached their homes at a respectable time without further mishap. Me? Well I had thought of going with them but chickened out and stayed at home to argue with my good wife. Well I mean, fancy her wanting to cook the Sunday dinner while i am laying tiles around the oven. After all it is only six months since I started the job. Still only need eleven tiles to finish; perhaps sometime in the next six months? Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to some great winter walks in the snow up in the hills with Brian, Bill, Alan L, Alan S, John, Ken, and Neville.
Harry Waters
Postscript: In the years following this walk many other long distance path were walked and we each had our favourites. In spite of being intimately involved with the Pennine Way my own favourite is Offa’s Dyke. In all of the years there have been many escapades and we have never had an dissention within the group which over the years has extended to a number where we recently had 22 for a Christmas dinner (and a few bevvies!) where the above account was read out (after a long period of being filed away with the Calderdale books) amidst much mirth. Many of us were featured on Radio 4 on the 50th Anniversary of our walking and cycling trips on the programme “Home Truths” which was originally chaired by John Peel, although he had sadly passed on when the programme was made.
Local Walks in County Durham
Filed under: OtherAs a general rule I do not put walks on the website if they have been covered by a Guide Book. However whilst some guide books can be difficult to be aware of and have little publicity, there are others which are only found if you are on the territory. These two sets of walks fall into this category and the purpose of this entry is to give walkers the opportunity of reading details of the walks before they go to the area.
The first one is a set of walks around the very attractive large village of Wolsingham in Weardale. There is rarely a month goes by that I do not spend some time in Wolsingham as the surrounding countryside is top class and full of interest. Wolsingham Wayfarers have been around for about twenty years and they have produced six leaflets of walks varying in length form about 2 miles to about 13 miles. Each walk has a different agenda in different terrain and the walks have all been well constructed. In the last three years the leaflets have been updated. The combination of the clear maps and route descriptions make route-finding simple, although it is my policy to always have the relevant OS map(s) available. For those from further afield I can warmly recommend that you visit Wolsingham and Weardale which has all the facilities that you may require and keep an eye out for the spotted flycatchers which are found hereabouts. The website will give you any other information that you may require.
Wolsingham Market Place
Shincliffe is an attractive village which is split into two separate villages. The old village is close to the River Wear, whilst High Shincliffe is about half a mile to the south along the A177. There is a lot of heritage in both villages. The Parish Paths partnership which is funded by Durham County Council have produced a leaflet with more than adequate route descriptions which contain four walks starting from Shincliffe village and one walk starting from High Shincliffe at the north end of the village, where there is good parking. These walks are a lesser distance to the Wolsingham walks. To obtain the leaflet it will be necessary to Google ‘Shincliffe Walks’. For those who wish to start in Durham city, this will add about five miles to the walks by following the River Wear to give a walk of about eight miles and be time well spent!
Springtime in Low Shincliffe
The Pannierman Way, Cold Moor and Urra Moor
Filed under: OtherDistance: 10 miles (with some steep climbs)
Start: Kirkby in Cleveland (GR 542042)
Click to view start position on Google Maps
Map: OS Explorer OL26 – North York Moors Western Area
It was in early November 2011 that George Howe asked if we had walked on the Pannierman Way out of Kirkby in Cleveland and received a negative response from the seven of us. Being an anorak on pack horse bridges my interest level was high and after a period of three weeks (during which we had other committments) a day was planned for George to show us his route. Knowing that George always searches out lesser known paths and quirky places we were keen to have a look at his route. The walk starts near Kirkby in Cleveland and a look at the relevant North York Moors OL Map 26 showed this to be just to the west of Great Broughton. Closer examination showed a Pannierman Lane name for part of the A172 leading out of Nunthorpe and an extrapolation of this route after leaving Stokesley leads down a minor road to Kirkby.
The inspiration to George was an article in I believe ‘The Dalesman’ magazine (always a good read) which stated that an ancient paved footpath had recently been revealed climbing up from Kirkby onto the Cleveland ridge where it crossed the Cleveland Way and headed south. The catalyst for this discovery and the work that followed is due to the efforts of the Kirkby, Great Broughton and Ingleby Greenhow Local History Club. Their work and activities are well documented on their website and the group believe that the path was built by the lay brothers of Rievaulx Abbey.
Anyone who walks these hills cannot fail to be struck by the host of ancient tracks, earthworks and crosses all dating from both the distant and more recent past and many books have been written on the subject. As well as this several walks have been devised which visit many of the sites. The more recent landscape features go back two centuries where the spoil heaps are often all that is left of the extensive mining which took place hereabouts. The tracks and crosses are a different matter all together and many of them are medieval and even older. Many of these are pack horse routes similar to those in the South Pennines and Calderdale where they were often paved to facilitate easier access. The local group uncovered evidence that their route was paved and were fortunate to get the Royal Dragoon Guards to clear the route and the associated ditch and expose a long line of flags leading upwards to the ridge. Christopher Evans who has written “Trods of the North York Moors” published by the Scarborough Archaeological Society believes that this route was used to carry fish from the Tees into the hinterland and to Rievaulx, which concurs with the local group. Another cargo was probably salt from Teesmouth, then a pristine marsh area, and other salt routes from Teesmouth spread out in the area. Search the map for Salters Way and you are almost certainly on an old route. There is even a pack horse bridge on a route at Ketton just to the north of Darlington. On old maps the Pannierman Way is marked as a bridleway to Bilsdale and indeed a closer look at the area does indicate that this route was probably the easiest way over the Cleveland Hills.
Further news from the Local History Group shows a visit from personnel from Natural England as they believe the route should be listed and therefore receive better protection and in my view this is essential as there is already evidence of damage caused by motorised vehicles. Whether these are in the normal activity of sheep farming or from illegal motorcycles l cannot say.
Kirkby Bank Trod
The walk starts at the end of the lane to the south of Kirkby at Toft Hill, about one mile to the south at GR 542042. The OS map which l have was published in 1995 and the route is shown as a dotted line but it has since been altered to a permissive route. The flags are all exposed and the scenery here is very attractive when heading south and then twisting up through some old mineworkings to eventually emerge onto the Cleveland Way beside the corner of Broughton Wood at GR 546034. It is now straight ahead on the clear track and after three stiles you reach the open moor on Cold Moor at GR 552024. The right of way on the path has disappeared and is in the heather but there is a clear track nearby to the Three Howes. The valley to the right is the little known Raisdale.
Heading south on Cold Moor, the track forks beyond Three Howes
Just after the Three Howes there is a split in the track near a tumuli and the one to the left is taken, heading gradually downhill in a south-east direction, where it picks up the true route at GR 555101. It is now steeper downhill to Cold Moor Lane with a plantation on your left. Ignore the first path on your left and take the second down to Seave Green. Note the superb sloes on the overgrown hedge on your left before arriving in to Bilsdale and the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley road where there is a welcoming seat at Seave Green.
The route is straight across on the access road to East Bank farm (which is a steady climb) and you pass behind the farm to continue up to East Bank Plantation. Continue upwards and nearing the top the gradient is eased by the path cutting across the slope. Near the top where you emerge from the wood are substantial earthworks heading north all the way to Urra Moor. The entry to the bridleway is very wet and tussocky and it is easier to continue upwards a further 100 yards to the broad track on the level ground which is taken north towards Urra Moor. This is a good place for lunch with views down Bilsdale and across to Cold Fell. This track soon comes to a t-junction and you then drop down to the bridleway along the earthworks near Medd Crag. The track to the east goes up to Round Hill on Urra Moor, which is the highest place in the North Yorkshire Moors and is on the Cleveland way which would make a longer walk if you feel fit.
Urra viewed from Urra Moor
Our route today continues along the bridleway to a dip where there is a waymark leading downhill at GR575019. This is a steep track and after passing through spoil heaps it reaches a substantial house at Urra and tarmac. Go right and where the road goes left and downhill at Urra farmhouse look for a difficult stile on the right. This serves two paths and the one we want is the one heading north-west, diagonally across two fields and then down over a stream by a footbridge and a short climb back up to the B1257. This is crossed immediately and a very stiff climb up through the trees is met. Keep a little to the right and not up the minor valley until you reach a marker stone where the semblance of an old path is met. The gradient eases to a stile which is crossed into a field which always has crops in it. Look for the path through the crops to reach a concrete lane via a stile. The landowner here has planted many fine trees including a tulip tree. Go right for a short distance to a gate where a path is taken on the left.
The Wainstones on Cold Moor
On our visit the view of Hasty Bank farm was obscured by the crops and the path has been diverted here to bypass the farmhouse. The path passes Garfitts and then drops down to a very wet section over a small stream and heads north-west to join the Cleveland Way at GR 557035. If you keep up towards the wood after Garfitts you can stay on higher but much drier terrain. There are good views of the Wainstones on your right where there are carved ancient stones. You cross the Cleveland Way which climbs westwards back up the northern end of Cold Moor and instead continue in the same direction you have been walking to a gate and the edge of Broughton Plantation. Just to the left is the forestry road heading slowly downhill in a north-east direction. After about 250 yards look out for some steep steps heading downhill and take these to join another forest road near to a junction which is waymarked to either Clay Bank or Great Broughton. Take the Broughton direction and arrive at a tarmac road at GR 556043 at the head of a road leading to Great Broughton. From here it is one mile back to the start by taking the bridleway on your left passing by Huntons Folly and Solomons Porch.
Grateful thanks to George for this fine route and special thanks to the Kirkby, Great Broughton and Ingleby Greenhow Group and their Chairman Geoff Taylor for all their work on this and other projects! The day had an additional surprise at the end as the Black Swan at Kirkby was surprisingly open at 4.30pm on a winter Wednesday and Farmers Blonde and Copper Dragon were enjoyed as well as large mugs of coffee!
Walking Round in Circles
Filed under: OtherMany years ago whilst walking on the moors to the north of Blanchland we found ourselves in a very dense fog. The major objective of the walk was to visit the black headed gull colony on Cow Byers Fell. This was duly done and we got very close to the nests before being bombarded by the agitated birds as the scout birds, if they were even in the air, had been unable to pick us up in the fog.
After this we took a compass bearing north and proceeded to head in that direction ,without any further consultation of the compass, fully anticipating to emerge at the side of Slaley Forest which hereabouts runs in a broadly West to East direction for over two miles. After about three quarters of an hour we discovered what we thought was another colony but to our surprise had walked around in a complete circle and arrived back at the original colony! We had heard, like most of us, that when lost people tend to walk round in circles and we therefore took out our compass and walked on a north bearing (this time keeping an eye on the compass!) until we reached Slaley Forest, turned west along the forest edge and descended into Devils Water where there was some limited visibility.
In an article in an issue of “Strider”, which is the journal of the Long Distance Walkers Association, in mentioned that walking in circles is natural. A group based at the Max Planck Institute at Tubingen in Germany recently carried out a study into this phenomenon. The researchers used GPS to track peoples routes both in a large forest and in the Sahara Desert. Whilst walkers trying to keep a constant direction were able to follow a fairly straight course if the sun was visible they tended to walk round in circles if they could not see the sun or any other distinct landmark. They also observed walkers trying to go in a straight line when blindfolded and found that they walked in surprisingly small circles, often in a diameter of less than 20 metres (yes, twenty!). The paper in “Current Biology” suggests that walking in circles is a result of accumulating noise in the sensorimotor system.
The problem is of course resolved by always having your compass with you and using it continually if there is poor visibility and no known landmarks. Some might even add, do not walk with noisy people and l wonder who they might be!