Bill's Walks

Down the Dale from Wolsingham Incorporating the Weardale Way

Filed under: Weardale Way

Distance: Low Route 9.5 miles / High Route 10 miles / Long Route 15 miles

Start: Demense Mill, Wolsingham (NZ GR 076375)

Click to view start position on Google Maps

Map: OS Explorer 305 – Bishop Auckland and OS Explorer 31 – Teesdale and Weardale

There are three variations on this walk which give the choice of a longer walk and also a return to Wolsingham via the Weardale Way (which is a low riverside route) or a higher route which utilises the old Weardale Way, before descending to Wolsingham.

The Weardale Way is a 77 mile walk from Roker in Sunderland at the mouth of the River Wear to near its source. The reason for this exactitude is that over the years there have been three walks following the Wear. The first two of these by Alan Earnshaw and Ken Piggin both ended (or started depending on which way you wanted to walk it) at Killhope Wheel which was just being developed at the time by Durham County Council. The former was produced on a simple sheet by Alan and l have a copy of this which will eventually go on to my blog, whilst Ken’s book is out of print but can be found in second hand bookshops. A later the route was then written by Alistair Wallace and supported by Durham County Council. In this book the author altered the previous routes by keeping the walk in closer proximity to the riverside. This is of particular importance in the section between the A68 and Stanhope when the original route went over Knitsley Fell and passed the “elephant trees”, whereas the current route follows the riverside. Both routes to Wolsingham are given in this walk description. For a considerable time there were waymarks on both routes and personally I feel that both routes should be waymarked as a high route and low route. The precedent for this is the Offas Dyke National Trail with the Castles Alternative. The current finish (or start) of the Wearda;e Way is at Wearhead where the Burnhope Burn and the Killhope Burn merge to form the River Wear. For the record I prefer to walk down the dale but starting from Killhope which is a place of high impact.

This walk starts at Demesne Mill Car Park. This is a very attractive corner of Wolsingham and there are records of expenditure on a watermill here going back to 1307. The mill also appears on Hatfields Survey of 1370. Wolsingham is a really good small market town with many interesting buildings and is well worth a detailed amble. Some years ago Durham County Council produced an excellent leaflet called “Walk About Wolsingham” and it would be good to see the series resurrected.

Today we leave Wolsingham straight away and head east to the road to enter Upper Town where at the corner of a minor road to the northeast there is a footpath which crosses the fields to Redgate Hall and then onto the B6296. It is then uphill for about 300 yards to reach a footpathat GR 089381 which leads to Greenwell Farm about a mile to the east. Note on the map the sign for a cross which can be found on the other side of the road. TAKE GREAT CARE HERE AS THE ROAD IS ON A BEND AND THE TRAFFIC IS MOVING FAST. The cross was erected in memory of the RC priest the Venerable John Duckett who was born in Sedbergh in 1603 and died on Sept 7th 1644. Tradition has it that here on July 2nd 1644 he was arrested after the baptism of two children nearby. He was taken to Sunderland and then to Newgate Prison and subsequently hanged at Tyburn because of his religion.

The route to Greenwell is on a terrace with fine views south over Weardale. Greenwell is an ancient site of habitation and is mentioned in the Boldon Book (a North East equivalent of the Doomsday Book) in 1183. Follow the footpath south of the farm eastwards to reach a minor road at spot height 164 and follow this road to Thornley village. Thornley is one of only two villages in Co. Durham where there is no through road. As a matter of interest the other one is Escomb with its famous Saxon church and this is also on the Weardale Way. Again this area has been lived in for hundreds of years and Pevsner states that there was a medieval village here, although half of the earthworks are now under Thornley Hall. The earliest houses now go back to circa 1700 and in the 1800s the village boasted a pub called the California Arms. This was run by Thomas Carrick who is buried in the village churchyard. Try to visit Thornley in spring when there is a fine display of snowdrops, daffodils and other spring flowers.

The route now continues east into and across the wooded Thornley Beck. It is interesting to observe here that to the west of Wolsingham all of the smaller streams are ‘hope’ and ‘burns’, which is Anglo Saxon for a side valley, whereas those to the east are ‘becks’ which is a Norse word and this clearly illustrates the pattern of settlement in the past. We now walk past Castlewood House to arrive at a broad track named the Coal Road as it was used to take coal from Helme Park pit to the north down to the valley bottom. The name Helme Park survived in the name of the nearby Country Park Hotel.

At this point those wishing for the longer walk should head uphill to the A68, follow Roddy Moor Road past High Cold Knot and Mown Meadows Road to Cold Knot on the A689 just outside Crook. Here head south on the footpath through Green Head and then Gibbet Hills to Douglas Lane where you turn west to the A68. Over the road is access to the Weardale Way which is followed west for two miles past Wadley and Hamsterley Hall (which is from the 16th and 17th Century and almost certainly built on the site of a previous building) to Low Harperley which is also an antiquarian site at GR120349. Here you join the two shorter routes.

The other two routes go gown the Coal Road to the A689 which is crossed and the track followed to Low Harperley on the Weardale Way. The low route on the Weardale Way is followed west to Eels Bridge and Old Park to Bradley Hall. This fine building was given a licence to crenellate by Bishop Langley in 1431 and the four tunnel vaulted chambers in the south range date back to the 15th Century. The east range was developed in Georgian times to a more modern dwelling and the moat which surrounds the house is still evident.

The Weardale Way now crosses the A689 (for a third time) by Bradley Burn Bridge which is late 18th Century and like most of the buildings hereabouts is made of sandstone. It is a listed structure. The Weardale Way is now followed back to Wolsingham and depending on the time of year many birds can be observed. Watch the river for goosander or dippers and on previous visits here both buzzard and peregrine have been seen.

The high route leaves Low Harperley by the site of Harperley Railway Station. This was a busy station during WW2 when many Italian and German POWs embarked from here to the camps in the district. The River Wear is crossed by the footbridge, then go uphill to Bracken Hill. Here head west through Shipley Moss and on to Knitsley Fell. We then follow Howlea Lane for about a mile to its junction with a bigger road from Hamsterley at GR082353. At this junction there is a footpath heading north and downhill past Wigside (which is now uninhabited) and continue downhill to cross the railway line and arrive at Wolsingham Station. Do not cross to Friarside and High Wiserley on leaving Wigside. The land towards the river is known as The Batts and this was the area where archery practice was carried out in the past. Take the time to go along the platform at the station as it is a beauty, going back to the early days of railways (1847). All that is left now is to cross the River Wear and make your way back to the start. The way past the church is the best unless you want a coffee or a beer in Wolsingham.