Bill's Walks

A Slice of Pennine Way and a Crust of Crooks o’ Green!

Filed under: Pennine Way

Approx. Distance: 11 miles

Start: The Fountain, Middleton-in-Teesdale (GR NY947253)

Click to view start position on Google Maps

Map: OS Explorer 31 – North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale

This walk was last done as a Durham County Council walk in 2005 as part of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Pennine Way when the whole route was walked by ramblers groups on the same day!

We start at the fountain in Middleton which was erected  to mark  the retirement of Robert Bainbridge from the London Lead Company. He was evidently well respected as so much was subscribed that there were sufficient funds to erect a second fountain at Nenthead! We leave Middleton on the road to Mickleton and cross the River Tees on the County Bridge. The Tees served as the border between Yorkshire North Riding and Durham until the 1974 Local Government Act which adjusted boundaries. As a result a large piece of what was Yorkshire was transferred to Durham and indeed all of this walk  was previously in Yorkshire.  Durham certainly gained some lovely scenery here!

The way upriver  on the Pennine Way is very clear and well waymarked and passes through superb riverside scenery. Wainwright certainly thought so as he writes in his Pennine Way Companion. “There are highlights of incomparable scenic quality along the route and much else of absorbing  interest. The journey may be broken at Langdon Beck, and should be, for not often does one travel in such charming and fascinating surroundings. Always tarry long in the presence of beauty, for so much in life is barren.” Wainwright generally preferred rocky areas compared to wide open spaces, as is evident in his many books, and indeed the sections of the Pennine Way on both sides of this involve long miles of moorland walking  so he was obviously in the mood for a change of scenery. Nevertheless there are few who will disagree with him over his views on this part of the Pennine Way.

It is  3.5 miles to Winch Bridge with the river on one side and grassy meadows on the other. Bird and plant life are abundant here. The more distant scenery to the south shows much evidence of  the quarrying of the Whin Sill here whilst the area to the north of the river was extensively mined for lead, and is the subject of other walks in this region. The river separates the Raby land to the north with its whitewashed properties and the Strathmore land whose terrain we will be on throughout the walk.

At Winch Bridge we will stop to look at the waterfall of Low Force where the harder Whin Sill has eroded slower than the surrounding rock to create a fine waterfall. In my younger days this was known as Salmon Leap which must date back before the 20th Century as the pollution on the Tees prevented many salmon ascending the Tees for many years. The name Tees is derived from Viking  times for a surging river and the Tees was the fastest rising river in England before the development of the Cow Green reservoir. The water release is now controlled and the fantastic spectacle of the High Force in flood is now a memory preserved in photos when the whole of the face was one mass of water instead of the two  parts we have now.

We leave the Pennine Way here and head south-east towards Holwick. The fine building across the field is Holwick Lodge belonging to the Strathmore Estate and we pick up a tarmac road into the village. There is a pub here with real ale and food for those wanting refreshment (your only chance  on the walk). We leave Holwick heading west to the end of the tarmac. This is the start of the Green Trod walked on “The Sweeter Side of Teesdale” where the  rare plants which are found  in Upper Teesdale can be observed. This was in the past a track used by Galloway ponies and pack horses as well as catle drovers. Some of the old drove routes can be traced across the county to the Hambleden Hills where the cattle then went south along the escarpment. A short distance after the end of the tarmac we leave the road on the left and head south through a cleft  on a clear track which ascends gradually, always in a southerly direction, to a height of just over 500 metres on Crooks o’ the Green Fell. Here are distant views in all directions and for those wanting to capture one of the Durham 2000ft summits  you can head west to Binks Moss. A lot of peat on this route!

We continue onwards in the same direction maintaining height until at Brown Dodd we  meet a shooting track and grouse butts. It  is  not impossible to bump into royalty here as this is one of their family estates where they shoot. We ignore the  grouse butts access track and continue downhill now heading south east leaving the access land to rejoin the Pennine Way just north of  Wythes Hill Farm which is  about 380 metres high.  When the Pennine Way was first dedicated, the way to the north was complicated and confusing but it is now clear and well waymarked. It is a steady easy climb back up to near the summit of Harter Fell where a glorious view awaits you.  The two mile descent back into Middleton is one of my favourite sections of the Pennine Way. About half a mile to the east is the pine covered hill of Kirkcarrion which is visible from many places in the area. Bronze Age remains have been found there and there is an enclosure containing a tumulus. About 2000 years ago this was a fort of the Brigantes who were the tribe who ruled this area prior to the arrival of the Romans and it is thought that the site is the burial site of Caryn who was one of the Brigante princes. They also had a base at Bowes and controlled the Stainmore Pass now occupied by the A66.  The site can be visited from the top of Harter Fell by following the track alongside a wall as it is within the Open Access Area.

The Pennine Way back to Middleton is clear and all too soon you are back in Middleton in Teesdale and the start of the walk.

The Pennine Way

The Pennine Way Association  a registered charity run entirely by volunteers was founded in 1971 to help all members of the Pennine Way Association by providing a personal information service and general assistance on all matters relating the the Pennine Way. It also provides a forum in which different interests and problems of mutual concern can be discussed and also  to protect the route. It complements the work of Natural England. The member base is walkers and accommodation providers. It has an accommodation guide and has close liason with the Ramblers Association,Youth Hostel Association and the National Park and Countryside Ranger Services. To find out more visit their website at www.penninewayassociation.co.uk