Bill's Walks

Park Head to Park House (Greencroft to Beamish via Pontop)

Filed under: Other

Approx. Distance: 12 miles

Grade: Medium

Start: Old Car park for Ransome and Marles in Greencroft (ask permission) or roadside verge along from entrance to Park House (GR NZ 162505)

Click to view start position on Google Maps

Map:Map: Explorer 307 – Consett and Derwent Reservoir

This walk is a fine walk to take after Christmas particularly if the weather is clear. It combines a fair distance, mostly on good paths and tracks, has wide ranging views over several valleys, a halfway lunchspot and a wealth of industrial historic interest from the recent past.

We start the walk on Tower Road in the old Ransome and Marles factory car park. This was a major development for a factory to manufacture ball bearings to alleviate the unemployment caused by the closure of the Consett Iron Works but regrettably it folded after a short time due to competition from abroad. Ask permission to use the large car park. Opposite is the track leading down to Park Head (the park in this case belonging to the demolished Greencroft Hall) which is used on the Northern Hills above Lanchester walk.

We head west for a very short distance and turn right towards Greencroft Village and at the junction with the A693 pick up the Sustrans C2C route footpath and cycleway which we take on our left to head slowly uphill towards Consett. On the hill opposite is Loud Hill and a reservoir. A recent study showed a considerable number of various bats resident round here. The path is in fact the trackbed of the old Consett to Tyne Dock railway which was primarily used to carry iron ore, from Tyne Dock (South Shields) to Consett and is now known as the Consett to Sunderland Railway Path. This is part of the well known C2C route from the Irish Sea near Whitehaven to either Tynemouth or Sunderland. The C2C route splits at Lydgetts Junction near The Grove to the south-west of Consett with the Tynemouth finish using the Derwent Walk, and the Sunderland finish using the line we are now walking on. We will pick up later at Stanley to walk back to the finish.

The railways around Consett are interesting. Iron ore was discovered in the Consett area in 1837 and an iron works called the Derwent Iron Company (later to become the Consett Iron Company) was established there Unfortunately this source of iron ore was exhausted by the 1850s and the ore was then brought in from the Cleveland Hills, where the other North East iron works were established for the next twenty years. From the 1870s the ore then came mainly from Sweden and Spain. It can be seen therefore that Consett was not really a good site to establish such an undertaking although it must be remembered that the other minerals necessary were coal and limestone and the latter remained locally available until the closure of Consett Works.

At its peak there were four railway routes which served Consett:
1. Stanhope and Tyne-Consett-South Shields opened in 1834. Much of this route is now used on the C2C where it is known as the Waskerley Way to Consett from Crawleyside Top.
2. Bishop Auckland -Tow Law – Consett opened in 1854. This route joined the Stanhope route at Burnhill Junction and had access to the Darlington to Stockton railway with links to Teesside.
3. Relly Mill (Broompark) – Lanchester – Consett opened in 1862 and was used for iron ore and coal from Langley Park to Consett. It is now now the Lanchester Valley walk.
4. Blaydon – Blackhill – Consett opened in 1867 and is now the Derwent Walk.

A link was put into the Stanhope and Tyne in 1893 which joined Annfield Plain to South Pelaw. This link avoided the rope inclines of the original route and then took over for the purpose of keeping Consett supplied with iron ore and other materials as well as transporting some steel out. There was also a fleet of long waggons for road haulage.

In 1939 the Bishop Auckland branch was closed after Tow Law and in the same year the Lanchester route lost its passenger services. In 1954 the Blaydon route closed for passengers and this was followed two years later by the cessation of passengers on the Annfield Plain route. Eventually in 1964 only Consett was open for goods traffic but indeed that is only part of the story.

The Consett to Tyne Dock line was the only line with access to Consett and was kept open to supply the steelworks. This was a dramatic line with a steep incline from South Pelaw all the way to Consett (which you will be walking on later) and powerful locomotives were required to haul the hoppers carrying the iron ore. These were a tremendous sight when hammering up the incline with the smokebox door open and the fireman working overtime to feed the engine! For many years this was done by a class called Q7 0-8-0 which had small driving wheels to carry heavy loads. Fortunately one has been preserved and can be sometimes seen in action on the North York Moors Railway. In 1954 British Rail built its largest class of ocomotives called 9F which were 2-10-0 and these are the ones most remembered, looking very much like European locomotives. Regrettably with the rush to diesel traction these were only in use for twelve years until they were replaced by Sulzer Diesels which could pull an additional waggon and these remained in use until 1974 when Consett works closed. Fortunately again a 9F was preserved, this being “Evening Star” which was the last steam locomotive built by British Rail. The premature scrapping of these fine engines was in all probability a mistake as they could have been employed elsewhere.

You can now appreciate the fine work by Durham County Council in acquiring all these lines and more which give us the finest collection of railway walks in the UK.

In just over half a mile and with fine views to our left we arrive at Bantling Lime Kilns, two of which have recently been restored under the Mineral Valleys Project which is partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as Durham County Council. A new path and a seating area has been created which will link in with other paths on the Stoney Heap opencast site down the hill. Over the last few years the Mineral Valleys Project has been responsible for the work at Harehope Quarry near Frosterley, the Deerness Valley Information Centre at Butterknowle, creation of otter holts on the Wear and the improvements of footpaths and new walking guides in Weardale plus many more initiatives. The project terminated recently. It is only a short distance to Pontop Pike Lane but we will go a very short distance further to view the Old Transformers and King Cole by the artist David Kemp. This is one of the many sculptures which are found on this part of the C2C and my own personal favourite is the Beamish Short Horns made out of JCB type equipment at Beamish.

We now head uphill up Pontop Lane, over the A693 at East Castle and to just short of Pike Farm after the second bend. Here three paths leave the road at the same spot and we take the middle one which is the access road to the mast. At the entrance to the site we take the footpath on the right over the stile and up the side of the field and at the top cross the fence onto a path which takes you to a trig point.

Pontop Pike television mast was completed in May 1953 and was a special priority construction to allow the people of the North East to watch the Coronation in June. It transmitted on the 405 system until 1965 when it switched to UHF (625). The VHF was switched off in 1985 and Pontop will be the last transmitter in the country to complete the digital switchover on 25/10/2012.

The plantation here has seen a fair amount of logging and the paths are currently a little messy. The best way is to head downhill to the west to pick up the bowling greens at the edge where a clear track is reached which is taken to the right to go to Simpsons Hill in Dipton.

Dipton consisted of three settlements in the past which were Dipton, Collierley and Pontop and coal was mined here from very early days. Old maps indicate many old bell pits and drift mines and as time went by shafts were sunk. The Delight Colliery (l bet it was!) was sunk in 1854 and owned by the Bowes family and mined three seams; namely the Hutton, which was 6ft 6ins and a depth of 114 fathoms, the main Coal which was 3ft and a depth of 70 fathoms and the Busty which was 5ft and a depth of 64 fathoms. Coal was taken out of the area initially by horses and chauldrons similar to that seen at Causey Arch. The two routes, depending on the ownership, were the Bowes railway through Burnopfield which went past Marley Hill to Kibblesworth (and eventually Jarrow Staithes) and the Tanfield Line which goes through Causey to Sunniside, Lobley Hill, then onto Dunston Staithes.

Sunniside and District History Society have recently produced a fine book and DVD of the Tanfield Railway entitled “Like Carrying Coals to Newcastle” by Nick Neave and Colin Douglas which l cannot recommend highly enough. It can be purchased at Gateshead Libraries (who partly funded it), Durham and Chester le Street libraries and Lintzford Garden Centre for £9.99. Money well spent!

We continue over the road along the clear waggonway route with houses down on our left and at a point where the houses cease look for a track to the right which you take uphill to reach some further houses just short of the main road near to a sports field. Here you can continue to the road where you turn left towards Flint Hill or to miss the traffic you can work your way through the houses to emerge on a signed route at Flint Hill (GR164543). Immediately opposite is a path and cycle route to White le Head, which is taken and followed down to White le Head and then down an incline to Tanfield Lea. This was the White le Head balanced incline where descending waggons pulled the empties back up by a pulley system. This was one of three on the Tanfield Railway, the others being Bakers Bank at Sunniside and Lobley Hill to Dunston. The Bowes Line at Springwell on the Gateshead / Washington border still has one in working operation.

You continue over the road and pass houses on your right before reaching a large open space area. At the corner near to a wood ignore the footpath sign on your left and turn right along the edge of the open area to the road where you go left for a very short distance and follow the waymarked route on the other side along into Tanfield Lea Nature Reserve. After going through a wood you turn sharp left back on yourself before reaching some other factories.

Tanfield Lea Nature Reserve which is sandwiched between two Industrial Estates is 28 hectares in size and has breeding grey pheasants, water voles and pipistrelle bats. In winter siskin are sometimes seen as well as short eared owls. Our route brings us on to the Tanfield to Stanley road near to East Tanfield Station which is the terminus of the restored Tanfield Railway, and we proceed towards Stanley on the right for just over 100 yds before crossing the road and taking the clear path on the other side up a small incline. This footpath is part of the great North Forest Trail, a lengthy circular route starting at Marsden and passing near to Kibblesworth, Hedley Hall, Tanfield, Pelton, Bournmoor, Hetton-le Hole and Penshaw before crossing the Wear and ending to the north of Sunderland. We cross over the Causey Road A6075 and descend an ancient lane which has interesting flora in summer to the old Stanley Road and head uphill past Park House, named from the adjacent Beamish Park. At the top near to the Blue Bell we take the path to the left of the pub and head south to arrive at the Consett to Sunderland Railway Path. Look out for rare breeds at South Causey Hotel and Equestrian Centre on the other side to the Blue Bell.

The C2C is well surfaced here and we head back towards Consett noting the gradient. There are good views to the north and we continue on this route to just short of Annfield Plain where the path turns slightly left after passing Kyo Bogs Nature Reserve on your right. You then cross the road at Annfield Plain over the specially prepared crossing and almost immediately leave the line and walk in front of a terrace of houses. At the end this unsurfaced road turns left and passes some Aged Miners Homes before crossing over the Annfield Plain bypass via a pedestrian bridge. We continue on the path which turns right to pass some small factories and reach a road which is crossed. We now take the path to the left of the fishing lake and after 300 yds reach the minor road used earlier in the day to reach the C2C. Here we turn left to arrive back at the start.