Parking
at Piercebridge, from near the remains of the Roman fort I boarded the 12.28
bus to Winston village, a short ride followed by an even shorter stroll down to
the river, enabling the Teesdale Way path to be engaged at about 12.45.
This
section of the path soon moves pleasantly through woodland, interrupted once by
a lush reed bed crossed by a wooden causeway, and deserted apart from a single
fisherman whose worried look indicated that he could be lacking a permit. After
about half an hour a stylish bench, complete with walking stick rack, beckons from
the bank, and it’s a good spot to spend 15 minutes eating a sandwich and watching
the wide river flow slowly past.
Five
minutes up the bank an old but solid looking viaduct crosses high above and I’m
re-routed up to its disused railway line and away from the river to the A67. A
half mile up the road a sign directs me back down to the river bank, initially
in the wrong direction but, at the foot of the hill, a hairpin switches me back
to an easterly direction. After a pleasant few hundred yards the path once more
rises up to the A67 for the final stretch into Gainford.
Turning
right off the trunk road, down Low Road, brings the old village into view. Past
a grey gabled old pile with the stump of a windmill in the garden, is the old
coach house covered in a red climber (Virginia creeper?) and then a wide green
opens out fringed with a combination of large manor houses and smaller
cottages, only four modern town houses detract from the timelessness of the
spot.
Leaving
Gainford it’s back on the A67 for five minutes before the path forks right and
heads back towards the river, initially constrained by fences then over four
stiles and under a small stone arch to emerge as a well-established route some
30 feet above the riverbank to the right and with rolling farmland to the left.
And
that’s the way it stays for a couple of miles as Piercebridge is slowly
approached. The path slowly drops to river level and on the left some variation
from sheep, cows and crops is provided by the unusual sight of a field of free
range chickens.
Emerging
into Piercebridge through a wall at the imposing bridge, the best option is to
walk over it to the George Hotel where good beer is available and an outdoor
area on the riverbank offers a fine view of the bridge majestically crossing
the Tees (just upstream from where the Romans took Dere Street across a couple
of thousand years ago).
A
pleasant two hour, five mile, stroll with the main points of interest being
Gainford village and Piercebridge.
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