Best of Teesdale Walks



Teesdale Hay meadow

 "The Best of Teesdale" is the title of my Durham CC guided walk which I reccied last Monday along with Bruno in hot and sunny weather. We did the walk yesterday in a cold, cloudy and drizzly murk and this post covers both walks which were essentially the same....



Take it home, yer big divvies


The reccy started off slowly with a crossing of the wobbly bridge at Low Force to a huge pile of litter carefully bagged and left by the fence for the litter fairies to pick up. Apparently, after a warm weekend, this is what people do.  If anybody reads this blog who follows the practise of neatly bagging up the post-picnic litter and leaving it in neat piles, you should be aware that it's nobody's job but yours to clear up your rubbish.  Dhuhhh....



High Force


Then I met Heather from English Nature, or whatever it's called now, walking her collie, followed by a brief text conversation with Alan about whether or not you can park overnight at Glen Trool, followed by another chat with yet another English Nature bod refreshing the boot cleaning station at the juniper woodland. (The juniper near High Force is under attack by a fungus and is in some danger a destruction. There are boot-cleaning stations at both entrances to the main woodland area) So, it was a slow start. Bruno, however, enjoyed some of the breaks by paddling in the river.


Cronkley fell and dawg




Starry Saxifrage Cronkley Fell

 It got hotter and a break by the Tees at the other side of Cronkley Fell was refreshed a bit by a both me and the dog having a paddle.

Despite the heat, the walk was a botanist's delight and all the usual flowers were out in bloom and the haymeadows  were glowing with buttercups in particular.



Exploring High Hurth crag and caves

 We visited the caves at Moking Hurth and got chased by maternal bovines near Dirt Pit, but apart from this, there were no problems.

On the day, nine walkers turned up, not including the stewards Ann and Neville.



At Gibson's Cave


The walk went fairly well and, apart from a couple of minor cow-based scares (they have calves at the moment) people seemed to enjoy the day, despite the raw wind and the light drizzle. A few even added a short visit to Gibson's cave at the end.



The girls get a bit twitchy


I've included a map in case anybody wants to have a go at this route.

The best of Teesdale highlights are - in order of appearance for a clockwise round:



More Haymeadows


Wynch Bridge (aka wobbly bridge)
Low Force + stone sheep statues
Pennine Way alongside the river  for lots of wild flowers



Boot cleaning at High Force

 The juniper woodland
High Force waterfall
Bracken Rigg hut circles
Green Trod
Cronkley Fell sugar limestone/ flower enclosures/ views
Cronkley Scar
Hanging Shaw
Moking Hurth caves
various Northern Haymeadows
Gibson's Cave

13 Miles and 1700 feet of up.