Trig Point Bagging Around Durham!

I was lucky enough to get a book at Christmas that listed the 81 Trig Points situated in the county of Durham. There are a few within a 20 minute drive from my home  so I thought I’d start with one where I could I cooperate into a decent walk. Well, that’s my overall plan to ‘bag’ the TP’s during a hike around this gorgeous county.

The definition of a Trig Point (TP) is:

a reference point on high ground used in surveying, typically marked by a small pillar.

I honestly thought I would only ever see a TP at the top of a hill but it seems that’s not the case, as this book reveals.

Luckily I already know the area of my first choice so planning a route was a breeze, I even had the chance to write my own route without pinching one from my OS app.   So parking at Shincliffe we joined the path running alongside the River Wear, a path well trodden by my missus and me as it is a great dog walk near to one of our favourite pubs.

Walking south along the route into Shincliffe Woods and a chance to see the last of the Snowdrops and the first of the Wild Garlic which carpets the area.  The route splits temporarily into 2, one follows the river and the other follows the Weardale Way through the woods passed Shincliffe Hall.  The paths merge again as the route stays in the woods and follows a very muddy dirt path through the  ‘Sliddings’, perfect name for this section.  The missus was filling the air choice language as she slipped and slide her way along the path, but alas there were no ‘YouTube ‘ worthy accidents to record, that’s the reason I let her go in front.  The path then scales the side of the woods up to High Butterby Farm. Again, the mud was laughable, even the dogs were having ‘Scooby Doo’ moments as we all tried to scramble our way up the steepish path.  Again the air was blue, which a passing rambler coming down the slope didn’t look to keen on judging by her face!

At the top of the slope in the farmyard, the path goes left leaving the Weardale Way and heading into farmland towards South Grange Farm and onto the main road to Bowburn.  Just after the petrol station the route turns left onto the road around the village. At  the bend there’s a field entrance with a concrete standing, over the field at the start of the hedgerow stands the Trig Point.

It’s weird, a TP in a hedge isn’t what I’m used to. To be fair, it could do with a lick of paint and a scrub.  Maybe I’ll pop back in the car with some paint!!??

Back on the route that goes along the road called ‘Tail upon End Lane’ before turning left up a farm track to Whitwell  South Farm then following the track alongside the A1. 

To be honest I was happy to turn left away from the A1 as the noise was doing my head in, seriously, the only benefit was I couldn’t hear the missus complaining about the mud for a few minutes!

Dropping down into the woods gave a respite from the traffic but the ground seem to get worse, you know the stuff, one step forward, two steps back! Plus the pressure on knees, hips and ankles trying to stay on your feet.  Anyway, turning right to Manor Farm gave a bit of relief and the home straight.  Shincliffe Park wasn’t as muddy  but dropping onto the road into Shincliffe was a massive relief.

We walked into the pub for the post walk pint boots like veg beds and 2 Springers looking like drown rats. 

Point to note, The Rose Tree pub is the only pub that allows dogs, the pub up into the village doesn’t.  The Rose Tree does good food which is great after a few hours out in the mud.  I’ll post the route and the mixed grill I had in the pics.  But we did have a good day, we both stayed on our feet and both dogs stayed injury free!

Local Walk Near The Durham Coast!

As you probably are aware County Durham is littered with old pit villages and a network of old railway lines that connect them.

Quite close to us there is a village called Shotton Colliery.  Darting off from various corners of the village are plenty of old coal railway lines, or just ‘lines’ if you’re local.  These nearly all lead to surrounding villages making a great network of walks.

Today we parked in the local recreation ground and we dropped down onto the lines to South Hetton.  Basically,  it’s a straight, but scenic, path that cuts through farmland. 

At South Hetton turn left at the road and walk along the footpath until the end of the terraced block then turn left into the estate and the route starts again on the dirt track behind the houses on the right.

The route then sticks to another stretch of old lines that bring you out in Haswell.  Haswell, another old pit village with ruins of a very old pit and historic links to Monks and St Bede.

A walk up George St to the end and joining a field to the left of the facing terrace, the route carries on across a small field then left down a track for a few yards to the start of another stretch of Lines. This goes straight on again back to Shotton.

If you’re looking for hills and highs these Line walks maybe aren’t the best.  But for small waterways and the wildlife that comes with them, these are ideal.

A lot of cash has been spent on this stretch lately, which has certainly helped with the flooding problems it had.  These walkways are quite popular, especially with walkers and cyclists and bring people to the area. Hopefully for years to come!