Bill's Walks

The Northern Hills Above Lanchester

Filed under: Other

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Lanchester is an attractive village situated in the Valley of the Smallhope Burn which rises in the hills to the west   above Knitsley. It is not in the Browney Valley as many think. This river rises  to the south-west of Lanchester and joins the Smallhope Burn at Waters Meet which is about one mile to the east of Lanchester. It  has an impressive history with the Roman fort of Longovicium being situated about  half a mile from  the current village centre to the south-west on the Satley and Wolsingham road.

Lanchester is on Dere Streer which was a major Roman supply road from York to Scotland. The Roman name means long town and the current name of Lanchester is from the same derivation. For strangers to the area it is worth spending a little time to wander around. Pride of place goes to  the Norman parish church of All Saints on the far side of the bypass. Pevsner describes it as one of the most rewarding parish churches in the county. It was built in the 12th Century utilising the convenient stone source of the nearby fort, but in additiuon the church chancel was rebuilt  in the 13th Century and contains some superb stone zig-zag carvings. The other churches (both the Methodist with its sensitive addition and the early 20th Century Roman Catholic church) also add to the quality of the buildings in Lanchester as does  the Branch Library which has served many purposes including that of a workhouse.

We start the walk at the car park on Newbiggin Road in Lanchester on the site of the Lanchester Valley Railway. The function of this line was to provide a good route for iron ore to reach the expanding steelworks in Consett. Prior to this iron ore had reached Consett on a circuitous route via Crook and  then joining the Waskerley Line to reach Consett after passing over Hownesgill. It later also served to transport coal from the mines in the Lanchester Valley particularly  from Langley Park and Bearpark although there were smaller pits at Lanchester and Malton. The line opened in 1862 but never did well for passenger traffic. Lanchester station indeed closed  as early as 1939 to passengers although it did open for specials such as the Durham miners Gala. The last Gala train was run on 17th July 1954.  There were four stations on the line between Lanchester and Broom Park; these being at Lanchester, Malton, Langley Park  and Bearpark which was known as Aldin Grange until 1927.

Take the old line south-east from the car park. Almost immediately on the right we reach a small wood of just over 3 hectares called Doras Wood which is owned by the Woodland Trust. A group of people from Lanchester help to look after this wood and other places round here with conservation work. In a further half mile we come to Waters Meet. This is supposed to be a good site to see Little Owls but I have had no success here. The whole of the Lanchester Valley is a good place to observe many of the more common species and even thrushes and their winter cousins the Fieldfare and Redwing are found here. I always find in summer it is a good place for skylarks which are sadly declining elsewhere, but you will almost certainly hear them singing aloft above the meadows alongside the track.

Just over a mile out of Lanchester we come to Malton Picnic Park where an area of industrial damage has been restored. By crossing the river you will come to all that remains of Malton Colliery village where there  is a row of terraced houses and a small war memorial. This is on the route of another walk called the Southern Hills above Lanchester. Our route continues down the line  nearly into Langley Park to a point opposite Blackburn Farm at GR 198452 where a path is taken down to the left to cross the Browney by a footbridge. We now go diagonally north-west over some wet ground before turning onto the lane to the left of Langley Mill onto the A691. There is a good wide verge here which we use heading west for 250 yds to the entrance to Langley West Farm. It is a steep climb up through the farmyard and then up the side of a field which is  followed round its northern perimeter to  the north-west corner where we then turn right (north) up to a minor road. Opposite is a another small road heading  north-east called the  Long Edge. This road extends towards Sacriston and in clear weather gives super views of Durham and its Cathedral and on the skyline the Cleveland escarpment.

After less than half a mile we turn left on a bridleway going north alonside the eastern edge of a plantation at  GR196473. This is often wet and we descend slightly before ascending to a road opposite the Rectory of  St Johns Church at Burnhope standing alone at the top of a hill. The church itself is a short distance on the left towards Burnhope. Burnhope was a mining community with very strong roots. In 1926 during the General Strike it was decided to call off the Durham Miners Gala as there was no transport to reach Durham. The people of Burnhope were  against this and decided to hold it in Burnhope. Such was the feeling that over 25,000 people attended with most of them walking there. Worth seeing is the War Memorial made of hand made bricks and red roof tiles which records the names of 96 men killed  during WW1 and WW2 with one lone soldier killed on the north-west frontier of India in 1930. Sadly, as we know too well, this is still a trouble spot. If you are passing pay it a visit.

We go straight over the road and cross two fields before turning right to Burnhope Flatts Farm and a minor road. We now head north for less than 100 yds before taking the Bridleway on the left  and passing two covered reservoirs. It is easy going on a good surface heading broadly west to reach Chapmans Well Nature Reserve after about three quarters of a mile.  Built on a site which had previously seen open cast coal mining (and l believe landfill) this  now is a mixed habitat of water, lowland heath and forest. There has been much planting of heather and juniper here. It is particularly good for butterflies with several rarities being found here and is also special as five species of owl have been seen. We take the clear route north  passing to the right of the lake (with fine views to Morrow Edge) to just short of Quaking Houses at GR184504 where another good track goes west to the A6076  which is the Lanchester to Annfield Plain road.

At the road we head right towards Annfield Plain. The fields here recently had a flock of Herdwick sheep which are normally only found in the Lake District. After 300 yards, at a bend to the right, look carefully on the other side of  the road for a footpath sign for a path heading south-west. This is taken over what appears to have been part of the Morrison Busty colliery and is now quiet woodland and grazing. How well nature can heal the landscape! We now arrive at the Tower Road opposite to what was the entrance to Greencroft Hall which is now no more. It was built in 1670 but was empty by 1939 when it was requisitioned by the Army. The fittings were sold in 1954 and the house demolished in 1955. However the size and wealth of the house can still be envisaged by some of the land which we will now pass. It is thought that the Hall was built on the site of a medieval village and traces of previous activity can be seen on the ground in several places. We walk up the road to the west to the entrance to Park Head (GR 161505) and turn down towards the house which is  passed via a diversion to the right. We now go steadily downhill in a south-east direction to the corner of a field where we rejoin the old driveway. This is crossed and the same direction continued towards a lodge house on the A6076 at Ornsby Hill. The  buildings on the left just before the road were at one time a specialist hospital for highly infectious diseases. It is now a short walk down the hill and back into Lanchester.