Bill's Walks

Romaldkirk and the Reservoirs

Filed under: Other

Distance: 13 Miles

Start: Village Green, Romaldkirk, DL12 9EE (GR NY994220). Park with consideration in the village.

Map: Explorer OL31 North Pennines – Teesdale & Weardale

Click to View Start Position of Google Maps

Today’s walk starts in the very attractive village of Romaldkirk which has three village greens. The low green where we are starting contains one of the village pumps and it is interesting to note that despite the proximity of the reservoirs which we will visit later, that the village did not get piped water until 1934. This was nearly 50 years after Hury and Blackton were constructed. The middle green was at one time cobbles and had stock pens as there were fairs held here in the 1800s and early 1900s but these were stopped due to the excessive drinking at them. Things do not change much over the years when human behaviour is concerned!

Romaldkirk has always been an agricultural village and did not have such direct contact with the Teesdale Quarries although the character of the village changed when the railway line opened and brought with it commuters who worked in Darlington etc. In the early 1950s there was an active railway station, a Post Office and a busy village school and earlier still there once was four pubs plus a brewery. Now only two remain and besides these are the old village stocks which no doubt subdued some of the drunkards at the old fair on the middle green.

The parish church is dedicated to St Romald and has been known as the Cathedral of the Dales although I believe the church at Grinton in Swaledale has better fame in this respect. Nevertheless quoting WT Palmer in his “Wandering in the Pennines” published in 1951, “St Romalds is the only church bearing the name of Romald and nothing is known concerning the saint. The frescoes on the column in the nave suggest St Romuald of Ravenna (c956) and his famous visit to Venice and that could have been in the minds of the builders of the church but there was also a Saxon St Rumald or Rumwald of Northumbria and it is more likely that he was the one commemorated”.

The current structure belongs to the 12th Century and was refounded after this part of Teesdale recovered from the Conqueror’s ruthless expedition to subdue the north. Indeed in the Doomsday book the place is referred to as “waste”. I will leave it to yourselves to visit the church at your leisure.

We leave the village on the Hunderthwaite road (Hunderthwaite was a viking settlement meaning Low Meadows of Hundrethr, a Viking name and soon reach the old railway now converted to a walk by Durham County Council. This was originally opened as the Tees Valley Railway in 1868 and was nearly 9 miles long from Barnard Castle to Middleton. The two original structures of Lunedale and Baldersdale viaducts still stand and are used on the walkway. In 1957 the engine shed at Middleton was closed when the K1’s were replaced by diesel DMU’s and the line finally closed in 1964. In its heyday there were seven passenger trains daily as well as regular freight carrying quarry products from the quarries at Middleton.

We now take the track to West End Farm (at GR 987200) situated above the River Balder. To the north-west at Gill Field was a small coal mine in the early part of the 1900s and we continue west to Strathmore Arms which as the name suggests was at one time a pub. In the 1890 register the owner is registered as a victuallar and farmer. We proceed west on footpaths past Scoon Bank above and to the south of Hury Reservoir which was built in 1894 and covers 50 hectares. It is the best of the local reservoirs to observe birdlife and is well stocked with rainbow trout. It is a common misconception that Canada Geese have only been in the UK in latter years but records show five pairs nesting here in 1945.

We continue west to reach Blackton Reservoir which was built in 1896 and is shallower than Hury, before picking up the Bowes Alternative Section of the Pennine Way to arrive at Blackton Bridge. This marks the half way point of the Pennine Way on its route from Edale to Kirk Yetholm. Above us looms the dam of Balderhead Reservoir which was built in 1965 and covers 111 hectares. The earth dam when it was built was the largest in the country being 303 feet long and 157 feet high, holding back 4 million gallons of water. It is not widely known but the dam leaked for a period after its construction and additional work was required after its completion. A prize for the first person to metricate these figures!

We turn to head east along the north side of Blackton passing Birk Hat which was formerly the home of Hannah Hauxwell. The field to the north is known as Hannah’s Meadow and is managed by Durham Wildlife Trust as a flower rich unimproved meadow. For the botanists, meadow foxtail, crested dogs tail and sweet vernal grass is found here along with other flowers rarely found now. In recent years, mainly through organisations like the North Pennines AONB, great efforts are being made to bring more meadows back to the “old” condition. We follow permissive paths alongside the reservoir to arrive at Hury and take the road up to Botany. It is now a simple route to the east over Romaldkirk Moor all the way back to Romaldkirk. Gracies Farm on the far side of Thackwood Beck is interesting as it occupies the site of a turf cottage built by Grace Scott who in the time of the Great Plague of 1836 fled there for refuge and never went back until the plague had gone. After escaping the fate of many of her old neighbours she lost her life through her cottage accidentally catching fire. Such is life!