Bill's Walks

Up and Around Stanhope Burn

Filed under: Other

Distance: 13 to 14 miles
Time: 6hrs 30mins
Start: St Thomas Church, Market Square, Stanhope (GR NY 996392)
Map : OS Explorer 307 – Consett and Derwent Reservoir

Click to view start position on Google Maps

The Stanhope Burn is popular with discerning walkers but is not known as well as it might be. This is possibly due to the fact that its entrance from Stanhope is not particularly obvious although everyone going over Crawleyside from Stanhope to Edmundbyers looks down on it and its obvious attractions. It is a haven for a wide variety of birdlife and for flora and on top of this there is an interesting history of exploitation for mineral wealth.

There was a lead smelter at Stanhope Mill and also a blast furnace for the production of steel operated by the Weardale Iron Company. The lead itself was mined further up the valley and on the right of the valley when ascending were the limestone quarries, now disused, at West Pasture. This is on the east side of the Stanhope Burn. This limestone was taken out of the Wear Valley by the railway line belonging to the Stanhope and Tyne Railway but more of that later when we descend from Parkhead down the incline.

The Stanhope Burn is followed down for all of its length on the Weardale Way walk from Stanhope to Rookhope and returning to Stanhope via Redgate Head and Steward Shield. On this walk we will go up the western side of the burn to eventually reach the C2C route which is followed to Parkhead and then descend the eastern side above the burn. This will give extensive views of Weardale and the Durham moors which are an integal part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Stanhope itself, where we start, is an interesting small town and one can easily spend a half day or more exploring it and the surroundings. St Thomas Church goes back to Norman times some of which still survives in the base of the western tower. The arch of the tower is pointed and is obviously later than Norman. The church also contains Frosterley Marble columns. This church gave the richest living in England due to the lead industry and the high value of the tithes paid to the rectors for the rights to explore and mine for lead. Some of this wealth was used by Bishop Barrington to build schools in the area but the driving force here was probably to compete with the Methodists and Wesleyans who enjoyed much support in Weardale. Near to the entrance is the famous fossil tree which was mined on Edmundbyers Moor and later moved to its current location. Next year sees its 50th anniversary in this place as it arrived in Stanhope in 1962. Note also the story on the nearby Moorcock Inn. Opposite is Stanhope Castle rebuilt in 1798 on the site of an old tower. Further east is the Dales Centre with a TIC currently under threat of closure and the centre also has other facilities and shops.

We proceed west along the main road to pass the Edmundbyers road and cross the Stanhope Burn. Straight after this we turn right to enter the burn and pass Stanhope Hall. This is a very interesting building which has in its western parts a medieval construction date of the 13th Century. Note and mullioned and transomed windows which date back to either Jacobean or Elizabethan times. The other main history of this burn is the famous Heathery Burn Cave, the site of which was about a mile up the valley. This cave was 500 ft long and when discovered contained the tools of a Late Bronze Age metal workers site including tongs and moulds etc. Antler check pieces from horse bits were also found and are the earliest finds of the use of chariots in the country. More macabre were the broken skulls also found. Sadly the cave was lost due to the site being quarried for limestone but all of the artefacts are housed in the British Museum.

There is a choice of routes and in dry weather the best route is via Widley Field and Pease Mires to arrive at High House. However after periods of wet weather an easier alternative, albeit on a very quiet road, is the minor road which leaves the A689 just after the entrance to Stanhope Hall and goes to Noahs Ark (at somewhere about 1000 ft above sea level) before continuing to High House on a footpath. We now descend to Stewarts Shield on an indistinct path and ford the Stanhope Burn (possibly wet feet after rain) before climbing up to the C2C. An alternative route maintaining height goes over Stanhope Common on a track to the shooting hut on Hawk Sites where there is a relatively easy mile to the C2C passing the grouse butts. This is open access land but should be avoided in the grouse season commencing on August 12th and is the best route up giving good views and saving a descent and further climb.

Having done all the various routes up my preferred route is to go up Stanhope Burn to GR 987401 where there is a corner in the wood. Look for the stile hidden behind a large tree trunk and head up to Widley Field passing an old adit mine entrance. At Widley turn left up the access road to the tarmac road and cross straight over. Skirt the side of the wood ahead, go through a gate and on reaching the fence turn right, Head along the fence and cross the stile before proceeding to Pease Mires. Here go through the gate into the farmyard and turn right round the back of a large barn where the track then proceeds north through a gate on to more open land. Ignore the path heading south-west to Mount Pleasant and go north-west eventually crossing the river by a bridge. Continue to now head noth-east, passing to the left of Park Shops which are a relic of the mining industry to get to High House. Here go on behind the house and down the side of the plantation passing a lake (not on the map) to a broad track on the left through the forest. Take this to arrrive at Hope House which was once an animal sanctuary. Turn left on the broad track which goes to the left gradually uphill and across fine moorland (where the birdlife in spring is superb with abundant golden plover and numerous meadow pipits, lapwings, curlew and of course red grouse) to arrive at a shooting hut after about one and a half miles. It is now best to go about another 100 metres behind the hut and go due north along the contour to reach the C2C route. The extra climb saves having to drop down to the tributary streams of the Stanhope Burn.

The C2C uses here the old trackbed of the Weardale Iron Company track from Rookhope to Parkhead where it joined the Stanhope line. This was built in 1847 to supply their blast furnaces at Tow Law with the iron stone they quarried at Rookhope and at over 1600ft (500 metres) this was the highest standard gauge railway line in the country. The line survived to 1943 and is now much used by walkers and cyclists. The steam engines halted at the top of the Boltsburn Incline (Redgate Head) where the winding house was used to haul the waggons the 66ft (approximately 200 metres) up from Rookhope. The ruins remain on site of buildings and the engine house.

Our route is east to Parkhead which was a junction where the Stanhope and Tyne met the Rookhope branch. It had a station and the building survives (albeit much modified) as accommodation at the Parkhead Cafe which is much appreciated by C2C riders! The old line was initially developed by Durham County Council as one of their railway paths and is known as the Waskerley Way after the station and old shed which were two miles down the line from Parkhead. The Stanhope and Tyne was, in fact, the first railway to Stanhope, and was built to carry limestone to the Tyne. It also later carried lead and ironstone with return loads of coal. The descent to Stanhope and the quarries was over 700ft on a steep slope and to achieve this the waggons were hauled by Stationary engines at Weatherhill and lower down at Crawleyside. Anyone over 50 will remember the gaunt engine house at Weatherhill. It is a pity that this was pulled down as it is now local history and complemented sites such as Killhope. The line from Parkhead to Stanhope closed in 1951 and the section from Parkhead over Hownesgill viaduct to Consett lasted until 1968. Stanhope was later reached by the easier route up the Wear valley in 1862 but progress further up the valley was slow with the line not reaching Wearhead for another 33 years in 1895. Nevertheless it then did take traffic from the routes over the fells and had further business with the development of Teeside.

There is a choice of routes back to Stanhope from Parkhead. The obvious way is to follow the railway parallel to the road to Crawleyside Engine House at GR995406 and then going along the top of the limestone escarpment called Crawley Edge to Jollybody Farm at GR003395, where a track takes you down to Stanhope.

For those wanting a closer look at Stanhope Burn an alternative is to leave the track about half a mile after Weatherhill, cross the B6278 and follow the clear track down to Stanhope Burn and the mine workings. It is then straightforward on the old quarry road back to Stanhope Hall. The track brings you onto the Crawleyside road which is followed down to Stanhope and back west to the hall, or alternatively the burn can be crossed to its west side. This eventually comes to the spot where you left it to head up to Widley.

If the weather is good then great views can be obtained by walking down to Weatherhill and passing by the Millstone Quarries to the east and then taking the footpath over Bashaw Head and the top of the Black Burn valley to descend to Hill Crest to reach Jollybody Farm. This can be difficult to find but if you head due south to the building on the horizon about a mile away there is no problem. Note the sheepfold of Bashaw Fold on the way down. A further footpath further to the east takes you to Collier Law with superb views to the north-east down to the Derwent Valley and Tyneside. From there you can drop down to Frosterley but that is another walk.

Whatever route is taken, in springtime this area is alive with waders such as curlew, peewits (lapwings), snipe in wetter patches and golden plover on higher ground, with oystercatchers near the Stanhope Burn, plus of course the red grouse and occasional black grouse.

For those wanting to know more about the North Pennines AONB there is much information to be obtained from their website. They also produce some interesting booklets, some of which have been discontinued due to the financial cutbacks. Another good source of information is Iain Brown’s excellent book called “The North Pennines” published in 2006 by Summary House Publications. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

FOOTNOTES:
1. For those that do not recognise the scene on the cover of the Explorer Map the view shown is an error by the Ordnance Survey who used a photograph of another Derwent reservoir in the Derbyshire Peak District!
2. The longer routes are those via Jollybody Farm.