Why not take a bus ride up to your starting point? Weardale Travel operate the bus service through Weardale. For more information on this bus service and other travel options take a look at the Plan your journey with Traveline North East page.
This route is approximately four miles long. The attached leaflet is one in a series of leaflets promoting walks leading from the Weardale Way, produced as part of the Mineral Valleys Project.
Page location. The four routes are designed as a series of loops of varying length radiating out from Stanhope. Each route provides a glimpse into the past, with remnants of the lead mining industry dotted around Weardale. Please note that the original leaflet was produced and printed in The routes are still valid but some of the information e.
Distance: 39 km. External link: Cycling in the North Pennines. Stanhope: Cycle Route 2. This 30km road route starts and finishes from the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope. Distance: 30 km. Stanhope: Cycle Route 3. This 25km road route starts and finishes from the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope. Distance: 25 km. Stanhope: Cycle Route 4. This 16km road route starts and finishes from the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope.
Distance: 16 km. Stanhope: Exploring a legacy of lead. Lead mining was the dominant industry in Stanhope for over two hundred years. Stanhope owes most of its former wealth to the lead mining era with quarrying and coal mining making significant contributions to the employment opportunities.
These three short walks around Stanhope will explore this mining legacy. Taste Trails: Bradley Burn to Stanhope. This walking route is a linear trail that takes you along the course of the River Wear.
You can return to the starting point using the bus. Along the way you will pass through the pastoral lamb and cattle producing farmland of the dale. Remnants of the quarrying and mining heritage of the area are all around you as you follow the river upstream. There are a number of great places along the way to stop for a bite to eat and a brew.
Stanhope, Frosterley and Wolsingham are also good places to join the route and it can be done in shorter sections. Distance: 15 km.
Recreation opportunity: Food trails, Walking. The Durham Dales Centre. The Durham Dales Centre is a visitor centre in Weardale with a tearoom specialising in home baking and with a well stocked information centre and gift shop.
Other shops are set within a courtyard offering a wide range of cards, chocolate, gifts and crafts. On site facilities include the Durham Dales garden, with interpretation panels throughout the grounds.
Coaches welcome. Durham, DL13 2FJ. Access: Car parking, Cycle parking, Public transport, Pushchair. Recreation opportunity: Arts and craft, Information points. External link: Durham Dales Centre. The Harehope Quarry Project. Within a former limestone quarry, the project has developed a fish farm and smallholding, a nature reserve with public access and an eco-classroom built entirely by volunteers. The project has a community events programme and delivers environmental education, field studies and education for sustainable development.
The eco-classroom can also be booked for meetings, green birthday parties and other events. In addition there walks ranging from 1km to 4km using permissive paths and Rights of Way around the quarry. Story walk leaflets are available as well as information about the Harehope Quarry Project.
Note on site parking is limited, however the quarry is a short walk from Frosterley where additional parking is available. Location: Frosterley, Bishop Auckland, Co.
Durham, DL13 2SG. Access: Car parking, Cycle parking, Disabled, Public transport. Recreation opportunity: Bushcraft and adventure, Nature watching, Outdoor education. Interests: Geology, Industrial heritage, Wildlife. External link: Harehope Quarry. This 24km cycle route starts at Killhope Museum and takes you into Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland. Distance: 24 km. Access: Car parking, Cycle parking. The walk starts from the track through Barracks Farm probably the oldest building in Tow Law , following tracks, over fields and pasture and crossing stiles and gates along the way.
The route descends gradually from ft above sea level at Tow Law to ft at Low Harperley where it links up with the Weardale Way. Access: Public transport. Accessible toilets, Cafe, Pub, Shop, Toilets. Interests: Built heritage, Wildlife. Tunstall Reservoir Walk. Tunstall reservoir is located within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has an excellent walk along its eastern edge through a semi-natural ancient broadleaved woodland, known as Blackstone Wood.
The Tunstall reservoir walk is not only a very scenic and relaxing walk but once in the woodland offers the chance to view a variety of wildlife, including several species of waterfowl and butterflies. Location: At the picnic site on Leazes Lane on the western side of the reservoir. Recreation opportunity: Bird watching, Nature watching, Picnicking, Walking. Interests: Reservoirs, Wildlife, Woods. Tunstall Valley. A beautiful walk through the Tunstall Valley following in the footsteps of the Prince Bishops.
The walk from Wolsingham to the Tunstall Reservoir has long been a favourite of locals and visitors alike. The walk offers plenty of variety and interest, plus a few short cuts for those that might prefer them.
The ascent up to the ruin of Park Wall Farm is handsomely rewarded with a stunning view back towards Wolsingham and the viewpoint after the steep climb up Blackstone Bank will take your breath away. The reservoir offers a wonderful setting for a break to enjoy refreshments at the half way point. Distance: 12 km. Walking around Wolsingham. There are many interesting walks leading from the historic town of Wolsingham.
These lead to quarries, farms, shafts, mills, and mark out an intricate pattern of journeys to work made over hundreds of years by generations of the people working in Weardale. Location: Starting from Wolsingham Railway Station. Interests: Built heritage, Industrial heritage, Panoramic views, Rivers.
Waskerley Way Railway Path. It's a beautiful route passing through a varied landscape; from urban fringe through to upland sheep farms and then on to glorious heather moorland. It's suitable for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users. This is one of the most impressive railway structures in North East England. External link: Railway Paths in Durham. Weardale Adventure Centre. The Centre — Functioning around a bed, fully catered residential centre, Weardale Adventure Centre offers a multitude of high-quality, outdoor and adventure education, activities.
Founded in , the centre has been an integral part of the local community and as such utilises local venues alongside on-site activities to provide groups with a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
As such, the centre regularly welcomes back groups that have been utilising the facilities, in some cases for over 20 years! The centre can cater for just about any group, with any needs, however we tend to spend much of our time delivering high quality educational programmes to school groups between the ages of 8 and Whilst these groups may be the staple of centre life, we have a wealth of experience delivering activities to just about any range of clients.
We offer a multitude of activities and packages as well as being in the fortunate position of being able to offer bespoke and custom programmes to prospective clients, these can take place on-site, locally within the Weardale area, or further afield.
Durham, DLHB. Playground, Toilets. Recreation opportunity: Bushcraft and adventure, Canoeing and kayaking, Climbing, Outdoor education, Walking. Interests: Geology, Industrial heritage, Rivers. External link: Weardale Adventure Centre. Weardale Museum. The Museum houses a truly amazing genealogy resource which can print out family trees for those with Weardale ancestry. Durham, DL13 1HD. Accessible toilets, Shop, Toilets. Interests: Built heritage, Geology. External link: Weardale Museum.
Weardale Railway. The railway runs a heritage timetable and has a number of special events through the year, including steam services. Access: Car parking, Disabled, Public transport, Pushchair. Accessible toilets, Cafe, Disabled toilets, Shop, Toilets. Interests: Built heritage, Industrial heritage. External link: Weardale Railway. Weardale Ski Club.
With 2 Poma ski lifts serving 6 pisted runs and a large club hut, the Weardale Ski Club on Swinhope Fell above Westgate in Weardale is a great North Pennines venue for skiing and snowboarding. Day membership is available on week days. Location: Westgate. Recreation opportunity: Winter sports. External link: Weardale Ski Club. Weardale Way - Cowshill to Westgate. This walk starts in high North Pennine village of Cowshill and travels down Weardale to Westgate following the course of the River Wear.
Some of the highlights of the walk include Coronation Bridge, built to commemorate the crowning of Queen Victoria, and the upland hay meadows at East Blackdene. Location: Starting from the car park at Cowshill. Weardale Way - Eastgate to Stanhope. Alongside the ford are stepping stones so walkers may also cross.
The A Durham to Weardale road crosses a bridge over the Stanhope Burn at the western edge of Stanhope but this is barely noticeable. Just across the other side of the burn is Stanhope Old Hall, an interesting old stone house that offers bed and breakfast.
The main part of the house is Jacobean or Elizabethan that is to say late 16th or early 17th century. Just above Stanhope to the north is the little village of Crawleyside on Crawleyside Bank where there are some good views of Weardale below. The neighbouring area has been heavily mined and quarried in times past. Nearby, in the moors about half a mile to north west is the Heathery Burn, a, tributary of the Stanhope Burn. In an important archaeological discovery was made in a cave hereabouts in which a huge collection of Bronze Age items were discovered, including evidence of the earliest use of wheeled vehicles in the British Isles.
The items found at the Heathery Burn cave seem to have belonged to a particularly wealthy Bronze Age family whose skeletons were also found. For some unknown reason, perhaps a flash flood, the family became trapped in this cave some 3, years ago. Stanhope has its own railway station which is the headquarters for the Weardale Railway. It is a charming award-winning station that has been recognised for the quality of its preservation.
The original station first opened in following the extension of the line here that year but it was rebuilt in The Weardale Railway itself had opened in , initially terminating at Frosterley and was an extension of the famous Stockton and Darlington Railway of The line linked the quarrying and iron industries of Weardale to Teesside.
In addition to Stanhope there are attractive stations at Witton-le-Wear , Wolsingham and Frosterley, all still served by the line. The 18 mile long Weardale Railway is now a heritage line and stretches from Bishop Auckland to Eastgate and is run by the Weardale Railway Trust and partners. The services which are seasonal, presently run on the eleven mile section of the line from Witton-le-Wear station to Stanhope station with an aim to extend and open stations at Eastgate and Bishop Auckland in the future.
The Weardale line had closed to passengers in and to goods in but its potential as a heritage line was recognised in later decades beginning with experimental services in the late s and the formation of the Weardale Railway Preservation Society WRPS in After much investment, the railway finally re-opened in Rookhope valley includes the attractive stone village of Rookhope itself and beyond are the remains of the Rookhope Chimney, an important relic of lead mining.
We may trace the course and remains of this two mile chimney which was a massive stone flue that carried dangerous toxic fumes across the moors away from the lead smelter at Lintzgarth near Rookhope village. A great stone arch can be seen which once supported the flue. It resembles a ruined stone bridge that leads to nowhere and crosses nothing at all. On December 8th, , Rookhope valley was the setting for a border fray in which a large group of mosstroopers cattle raiders , from Tynedale , made a raid upon the valley of Weardale.
The raiders had decided to plunder the Wear valley for its livestock while most of the Weardale men were away assisting with the Rising of North against Queen Elizabeth I see Raby Castle.
Resistance to the opportunistic raid upon Weardale was expected to be low, but there were still a number of Weardale men left to defend their dale. The raiders were pursued north into the Rookhope valley, as they made off with Weardale cattle and sheep. When the Weardale men eventually caught up with the mosstroopers, a fray ensued in which four of the Tynedalers lost their lives. But away they steal our goods apace, And ever an ill death may they dee.
Then in at Rookhope Heed they came, They ran the forest but a miles; They gathered together in four hours Six hundred sheep within a while. About that time the fray began, I trow it lasted but an hour, Till many a man lay weaponless, And was sore wounded in that stour. The Great Chases were the hunting expeditions, led by the Prince Bishops and were by all accounts grand occasions, celebrated with much pomp and pageantry.
Such was the scale of the Great Chases, that all the folk of Weardale were required to provide hounds for the hunt, along with enormous quantities of food, wine and beer for the hunters. The following two passages from the Boldon Buke refer to the Great Chases and have been translated from the original Latin.
The first relates to West Auckland:. Weardale made up the second largest hunting ground in England after the New Forest in Hampshire which of course belonged to the King. The Prince Bishops are thought to have inherited their hunting rights from the earlier Bishops of Lindisfarne , but hunting took place in Weardale in earlier times, as a Roman altar found near Stanhope records the capture of a wild boar in the area.
Stanhope Park and the forest surrounding it, were well populated with game, deer, wolves, and wild boar and the bishops jealously guarded their right to hunting in the area. A forest court was held at Stanhope, for the trial of poachers. Ireshopeburn has an Anglo-Saxon name that somewhat strangely refers to Irish-Scandinavians.
The connection with the Irish probably comes from Cumbria, only a few miles to the west beyond the Durham border. Cumbria was a place of considerable Viking settlement, settled primarily by Norwegian Vikings who sailed and settled around the northern tip of Scotland and then down the western coast along the Irish Sea.
Dublin in Ireland became the capital city of Norwegian Vikings settled in Britain and many people of mixed Irish-Norse origin settled in Cumbria and Lancashire when the native Irish evicted the Vikings from Dublin in the tenth century. Ireshopeburn is the home to the Weardale Museum, established in and occupying the former manse of the adjoining High House Chapel of It is run by volunteers who set up the museum during the renovation of the beautiful chapel which can also be visited.
The museum also runs a family history service with information on around 70, Weardale individuals. Beyond Ireshopeburn, to the west, streams converge to form the beginning of the River Wear, here little more than a stream at the village of Wearhead. Above here to the north, the Killhope Burn is a particularly notable tributary that hosts the hamlets of Cowshill, Cornriggs Farm and the old lead mine that is now a museum called Killhope Wheel.
The far upper reaches of Weardale, above the village of Westgate have some of the highest primary roads in England, most notably in the vicinity of the small village of Wearhead. Close to here the River Wear begins, formed by the confluence of the Killhope, Welhope and Burnhope Burns which make up the westerly frontier of Durham near the border with Cumbria. The valley of the Burnhope Burn plays host to the Burnhope Reservoir.
However it is the Killhope Burn that feels like the most natural upper course of the River Wear itself and this valley is followed by the A road which leads towards Nenthead in the valley of the Nent a tributary of the South Tyne and then onward to Alston in Cumbria on the South Tyne itself. While the eastern part of County Durham was part of the Great Northern coalfield, the dales in the western part of the county were just as important for their lead.
From the thirteenth century lead mining in the Durham Dales was encouraged by the Prince Bishops who profited from the mining of the ore.
The heyday of lead mining in the region was not, however, until the late eighteenth to mid nineteenth centuries, when the North Pennine lead field was arguably the most important in the world.
The lead field was bordered in the east by the Durham coalfield, in the south by the Stainmore Gap and in the north by the Tyne Gap. Killhope wheel, wrought in iron and forty feet in diameter, is now part of a lead mining museum and is the most complete lead mining site in Britain.
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