St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg II: Harestanes to Morebattle – Friday 9 October 2015

Starting where we left off yesterday at Harestanes Visitors Centre we retrace our steps through the local paths to regain St Cuthbert’s Way, soon dropping down to the banks of River Teviot. Turning to the right for a few hundred yards we reach and cross the picturesque Monteviot suspension footbridge, turning left again to return down the opposite bank. Midstream are two pairs of swans, serenely stationary in the current but presumably paddling like billy-oh underneath. The weather is not as bright as yesterday but it is still a fine day for walking.

Soon the Teviot’s junction with the Jedwater Stream is reached, with the route following the smaller tributary upstream to steps that lead up to the A698 at the Jedfoot Bridge. Over the main road the way continues along a track and soon we are rising up another section of Dere Street, straight and steepish. Just before the top of the hill the way goes left into trees following a delightful path, gently downwards with impressive views across fields to the Waterloo Monument in the distance.

Emerging from the wood the way turns right along a minor road climbing up, then steeply down, to a footbridge over Oxnam Water. Beyond here is the main climb of the day; first diagonally up a field then, having levelled off, kicking steeply up a straight tarmacked track. At the top of the track (attained some time later) the path leads left into another wood, revealing a good place to stop for lunch.

We pick a tree each, to sit with our backs against, and munch in quiet contemplation, recovering from the not inconsiderable exertion of the ascent.

Resuming, the wood is soon exited and we follow a road to the right before heading across the fields from Brownrigg Farm. Wending our way between fields and trees we rise up onto Cessford Moor, after a mile or two dropping down into Cessford itself, comprising a few estate cottages, a red phone box, a small ruin, and a grass verge. We sit gratefully on the verge and snack.

The final stretch is along the minor road, past the ruined ‘castle’, up then down, reaching after a mile or so the relatively main B6401 road. A right turn and another half mile of road walking brings us into Morebattle, up the main street, then downhill to our base at the Templehall Inn.

No issues with closing time today – tea readily available to enjoy before a delegation sets off to retrieve the car left at Harestanes several hours ago. On their return, after a sprucing up, it was time for another fine meal and an evening of self-congratulation on the two days’ efforts, with an evident determination to carry on next autumn.

St Cuthbert’s Way - Leg I: Newtown St Boswells to Harestanes

Leaving one car at the Harestanes Visitors Centre we then motored to Newtown St Boswells, using the car park adjacent to the Co-op as our departure point. Respecting our maturity and various dodgy body parts the official start point of Melrose Abbey and the stiff climb up and over the Eildon Hills had been deemed unwise, and so omitted.

Having got the boots on and flexed the joints we exited the car park, turned left and then left again following a helpful sign pointing down through the trees towards the river. At the river, just to the left, an impressive footbridge provided an early stopping point to chat with a local, but the route turned to the right staying on the near bank. Warm, still and sunny it was a perfect October day for a walk, and the turning leaves on the trees gave some lovely views along and across the Tweed.

After couple of miles the route diverted up the bank and into St Boswells, along the main street for a few hundred yards (shops available for the already peckish) before turning left at Braeheads Road (unsigned) down to the golf course. At the course the path leads right, along the edge of a couple of fairways before regaining the river bank (where herons flew) and following a long right hand curve to within sight of the Mertoun Bridge.

Here we stopped for lunch; with the river level low we were able to sit on the concrete weir, well into the flow, and enjoy our packed lunches and idyllic view while our legs stiffened up.

After lunch we rose with a chorus of old man groans and continued along the river bank for a while until we reached steep steps leading up to the imposing Maxton Church. Here a bench cried out for a group selfie, so we obliged. Beyond the church and the few houses that make up Maxton the well signed route led left onto a minor road heading towards the busy A68.

Just before reaching the main road the way is signed left into woods on a track that gradually diverges from the road, following the line of the Roman Dere Street. The gradient is slight but unremittingly upwards, and when eventually we reached a sign for Lilliard’s Stone our curiosity and fatigue combined to persuade us to stop a while. A climb over a stile was well worthwhile to see the stone monument, read the inscription (and put it to music), take in the impressive views to all sides, and top up with remaining refreshments.

Returning over the stile to Dere Street, the way was now generally downwards, weaving among trees, before rising again to cross a minor road and enter some woodland opposite. The well-signed route continues to weave through the trees, but just after crossing the B6400 we abandoned the St Cuthbert’s way route in favour of the signs to the Harestanes Visitors Centre.

It is a good half mile before that goal is reached, and a spurt was needed to get there before the centre (and more importantly the café) was due to close at 5 pm. We made it with just ten minutes to spare and the excellent staff, disregarding the proximity of closure, made us welcome and served up tea and cakes to consume while they locked up around us until we were ready to go at about quarter past five.

We piled into the car left earlier, drove back to Newtown St Boswells to pick up the one left there, then drove in convoy to our digs at The Templehall Inn in Morebattle, where after dusting off and performing necessary ablutions we enjoyed a fine meal and well deserved drinks.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg X: South Bank to Warrenby – Wednesday 24 September 2014

With a train involved both in getting to the start and getting back from the end of the leg, parking at Thornaby station  is a forgivable extravagance  at £2.80; and another £2 gets me a couple of stops down the line to South Bank station. The view from the footbridge is not inspiring and neither is the notice on the Teesdale path waymark, which notifies of closure at a condemned bridge up ahead. The diversion is via the A1085, which will introduce a lot of tarmac into the route.

Undeterred I set off down the familiar path alongside the railway, soon bounded on the right by a couple of large pipelines. Across the railway are the remains of some foundry or other that, despite seeming derelict, seems to still be flaring off some by-product. The day is fresh but here the air is heavy and I feel the need to breathe through a hanky for a few hundred yards.

After just a mile a tangle of road and rail bridges leads me to judge it time to get off the path and seek the diverted route. An exit leads past a Network Rail van, through a service yard to the road, but unfortunately a locked, ten foot high, spiked gate bars the way. It looks from the map that I need to go another half-mile or so down the path to find another way onto the road and return the half mile back to this point. As I turn resignedly, the Network Rail driver emerges from nowhere and happily lets me out.

This is Tees Dock Road, and does what you would expect, with lorries thundering to and from the port. After half a mile, negotiating a couple of roundabouts, the A1085 (known locally just as the trunk road) is reached and it runs dead straight and pan flat for two miles between the steel works (once British Steel, then Corus, and now Tata) and the chemical plants of Wilton (once ICI and now a hotchpotch of successors).

It’s a lonely old walk and the only other creature at large (outside of a vehicle) is, bizarrely, a deer that peers at me from the embankment that separates the road from the steelworks, before making its way back down into the wilderness of what now must be surplus land being re-claimed by nature.

As the dual carriageway starts to rise over the railway, an overgrown slip road to nowhere goes off to the left and this leads, at said railway, back onto the Teesdale way path proper again. Turning right leads up some steep wooden steps, and ironically back onto the dual carriageway and a continuation along the A1085.

Before long, just as the road reverts to a single carriageway, the map indicates a footpath on the left, and a gate (albeit fastened shut) hints at the way. No waymark has been seen since South Bank station so a leap into the unknown is needed and climbing the gate a faint path leads diagonally right up to and along a ridge. Keeping to the right of a square building of indeterminate use, and avoiding being hit by a stray scrambling bike, I look hopefully for a bridge over the railway. Even close to the train tracks the way is not obvious, but heading to the right reveals a gap in the hedgerow and a small iron footbridge that leads up and over to Coatham Marsh nature reserve.

A walk around the pond, where two swans dip and dabble, provides the only period of quiet in the whole day; larks can be heard. Paths diverge but heading towards the buildings brings me out in Warrenby, still short of the coast by the width of a couple of fairways of the links course here. But it is a short walk up the road to Coatham where following a sign to the sea front enables a seat to be found on the promenade, giving a panoramic view of the offshore wind farm and to its left the South Gare breakwater that guards the entry to the Tees.

It’s still not a pleasant place to linger long, so the best plan is to walk the other way, down the sands to reach the more resort-like Redcar, with its new Beacon (a ‘vertical pier’) providing a good café in its interior (other catering establishments are also available).

This to me is a much more satisfying end point for the Teesdale Way. Somewhere to sit awhile and reflect on the 72 miles from Barnard Castle, covered in ten stages, just within a twelve months period. Majestic most of its way, the Tees flows through varied landscapes, quiet and wooded slopes, picturesque villages, rolling farmland, suburban parks, city riverside living, industrial decay and rebirth, to the seaside.

A good walk.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg IX: Stockton to South Bank – Monday 8 September 2014

Parking again near the Tees Barrage at Stockton, the Teesdale Way Path is re-joined over the barrage on the North Bank. Past the impressive white water course, and along the tow path toward Middlesbrough, this first mile or so is between the river on the right and Portrack Marsh on the left, with the barrage behind and the A19 flyover ahead.

Once under the flyover the somewhat older Newport Bridge approaches. It’s currently closed to traffic being repainted, which is a slight worry as it provides the Tees crossing for the Teesdale Way. The path goes under the bridge and loops up to the road, at which point it is clear that it remains passable for cyclists and pedestrians. Once over the river some steps lead down to the tow path which then goes under the bridge and downstream, now on the south bank.

Underfoot the tarmac and concrete gives way to a wide shale path with grassy verges. On this side of the river are the remains of industry, largely flattened; across the water is the back end of Billingham with the remnants of chemical plants hanging on. The old wharves can be seen, rotting gently away, although one ship is moored over there so something is still moving in or out.

After a couple of miles, the path forks at a ‘viewpoint’, marked by an iron bench. My old map says turn inland here, but the continuing towpath indicates the possibility of a newer riverbank route. It turns out to be no more than a spur that stops dead after a couple of hundred yards, so the inland fork remains the only option and some road walking is in prospect.

However before the path hits the road it goes through the weirdly impressive Teesaurus Park where large steel plate dinosaurs peer out of, or over, the trees, and about four miles into the walk it’s a good place to sit for fifteen minutes and have a snack.

From the park the route turns left along Riverside Park Road, through the newish business park, now separated from the river by some industrial units showing welcome signs of industry. Keeping left along first Depot Road, then Vulcan Street, leads eventually to the foot of the iconic Transporter Bridge.

The route continues straight on, past Middlesbrough College on the right, heading for the unmissable double zeros of Tremenos and the Riverside Stadium, home of the Boro. Just past Tremenos are seats by the Middlesbrough Dock from where the contrasts of the new and the old architecture can be pondered, for me over lunch.

At just under six miles, and only one o’clock in the afternoon, the option of Middlesbrough Station is rejected and the slightly risky alternative is adopted of finding a station up the line where trains may or may not stop.

A footbridge crosses the inlet to the dock and the way is then via The Halyard and The Leeway round the front of the stadium (or just across the car park), until the road straightens, separated from the railway on the right by tree and bushes.

Soon a level crossing appears to the right, and once over it a path leads off to the left, now adjacent to the railway line. The railway is a constant companion and the path is the first of the day to feature earth and grass, resembling a real countryside way. The surroundings don’t match though, with the A66 away to the right; the path is a narrow fenced in corridor, often punctuated with scrap, litter and overflowing detritus of adjacent businesses.

A couple of road bridges intervene which are either ducked under or climbed over, and one stretch features a stretch of brambles with blackberries ripe for harvest.

A couple of miles after leaving Middlesbrough Dock the path emerges at South Bank station, a welcome sight made even more welcome by the train timetable that confirms a regular service is in operation. In fact a wait of just three minutes is required before a train rolls up and £2 sees me back at Thornaby station in no time at all.

The short walk back to the Tees Barrage adds a bit to the eight mile stretch that was more interesting than exhilarating, illustrating as it does the Tees’ historic importance in the development of Middlesbrough.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg VIII: Eaglescliffe to Stockton – Wednesday 13 August 2014

Parking for free near the Tees Barrage at Stockton, it is a short walk to Thornaby station where £1.50 gets me a senior single, one stop to Eaglescliffe; from there following the A67 towards Stockton soon reveals a sign on the right to the Teesdale Way.

This leads between some back gardens and allotments before entering Quarry Wood and then Preston Park. Within the park a multitude of paths offer themselves but by keeping right and hugging the river I eventually emerge onto some tarmac and spot a TWP way-marker pointing back the way I came, but confirming I am still on the route.

The way forward is sign posted Ingleby Barwick and heads across towards the new “1825 Way”, but when it reaches it there is no indication of the way to go next. Turning left doesn’t seem promising, but turning right only uncovers a signpost pointing back that way too. My instinct is to the right and an underpass is promisingly signed to Stockton town centre, and through the underpass another sign incorporates a TWP way-marker (so that initial signpost looks tampered with).

The path follows the river along one of its a meanders, passing anglers before cutting inland to the back of some new flats and then entering the Bowesfield nature reserve. Choosing the middle of the three paths leads between a couple of meres, bordered by bulrushes and populated by swans and water fowl; more importantly it provides access to a convenient bench on which to sit and munch my snack.

An information board indicates the way to the riverbank and turning left accesses a narrow, winding and enclosed path, vaguely threatening until yet more anglers are spotted in the undergrowth. As Stockton is approached there are more things in the undergrowth that indicate the proximity of urban youth – bottles, cans, scorched earth – and after passing under the A66 and adjacent rail bridge the riverside path ends abruptly at the yard of SG Welding.

Walking up their access road reveals a sign confirming I am still on the route, sending me right along a road and depositing me in Stockton opposite the bingo hall. There is no further signpost, but crossing the road, turning left and then following the road as it bends to the right, brings me onto the riverside walk underneath the Millennium footbridge.

The concrete towpath continues alongside the river, under the Princess Diana road bridge and then under the Infinity footbridge, before reaching the Tees Barrage. Once there, the splendid Riverview Café provides welcome refreshment, including home-baked cakes, at very reasonable rates.

The six miles or so has taken just two and a half hours, and having expected industrial I was pleasantly surprised at the generally rural nature of most of the route.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg VII: Middleton One Row to Eaglescliffe – Friday 20 June 2014

Parking again opposite The Devonport Hotel in Middleton One Row, I this time go left (downstream) along the green to locate the signed path. This heads diagonally down dissecting some gardens before emerging at the river bank. The riverside path continues between the river and meadows, at this time of year chest high in flora - red poppies and less unidentifiable species in yellow, pink, and spindly purple. Also rampant are the nettles, thistles and giant hogweed, the latter warranting notices that helpfully warn of the dire consequences of contact.

After half an hour, having crossed a metal footbridge and climbed a stile, the path becomes indistinct but re-asserts itself atop a dyke to the left. As this ends, a path at right angles to the river goes left up a grass track, soon enclosed by fences, to the road at Low Middleton Farm.

Turning right at the farm, a path leads through a field, becoming a cart track, passing through a gate and then rising up a grassy knoll (Fatten Hill). Here a signpost offers an alternative route to Yarm but the Teesdale Way continues on, through the Newsham Grange Farm and onto a minor road.

After about half a mile a signpost on the right shows the way, via a gate and diagonally downhill through a field back to the riverbank. The track here is rutted underfoot and thick with thistles but soon enters a wooded section, providing welcome shade and easier walking, but when the trees end the thigh deep vegetation returns making progress quite hard work, akin to wading through treacle.

It is a long trek, about four miles, along the river bank before civilisation returns at Aislaby Grange, after which the path becomes more travelled and so easier to speed along, keen to reach the watering holes of Yarm. But it is still a mile or two before the posh riparian properties come into view, followed by the impressive railway viaduct, passed under as the path climbs up to the town.

Just across the A67 is the Blue Bell Inn and, eight miles into the walk, a pint of Hobgoblin is in order, swiftly swallowed in the beer garden, conveniently placed right on the Teesdale Way.

Twenty minutes later I am back on the route, now a pleasant, well-trodden path along the river with open views across fields, which continues for about three miles until Eaglescliffe Golf Club intervenes and diverts the path inland at ninety degrees to deposit me, somewhat incongruously, into a modern housing estate.

Turning right and following the TWP signs, I reach the A67 and then zig-zag my way to Eaglescliffe station for a train back to Dinsdale (as the station at Middleton St George is called). It is only two stops, about six minutes, which is mildly insulting given the six hours it has taken to walk the twelve miles; and then I’ve another mile from Middleton St George to Middleton One Row to pick up the car.

Nevertheless it was a fine walk, but probably better done in spring or autumn when the vegetation would be less troublesome.

Lower Teesdale Way - Leg VI: Neasham to Middleton One Row (circular) – Thursday 13 March 2014

Just down Sockburn Lane from Neasham is Liberty Lodge from where the Teesdale Way once more offers a route on either bank from to Low Dinsdale. I decide to cover both by starting at Middleton One Row, heading to Low Dinsdale, then completing the loop past Liberty Lodge, through High Sockburn, over the river and back via Over Dinsdale . The weather is perfect for walking; sunny, blue skies, and air that is cool, still, and insect free.

Parking opposite The Devonport Hotel in Middleton One Row I head diagonally down the green to locate the signed path into the woods, at this point heading upstream on the left bank. After the interruption of Dinsdale Park’s front patio, the woodland way continues with squirrels aplenty and the river wide and swift to the left. All that detracts from the scene are the plastic bags and other flood debris left high and dry in the tree branches now fifteen feet or more above the current water level.

After swinging left over an incongruously red-brick bridge over a culvert, I rise up through a well churned up section, evidently the scene of a recent cross country or re-enactment of the Battle of the Somme. Just on from there I do a double take as between me and the river I see, not fifty feet away, a small deer stood stock still. I stand likewise and for a few seconds it is like something from a Robert Frost poem (c.f. Two Look at Two), then as I go for my camera the creature bounds off gracefully through the trees and away.

The path rises up to be joined by another from the right. Intuitively, left is the way forward but the sign indicates right, until closer inspection reveals some mischievous tampering (the Teesdale Way dipper bird lying on his back being a bit of a giveaway). The left route is soon confirmed by a way-marked stile that leads out of the woods into fields, across which the path heads for the tower of Low Dinsdale Church.

Arriving at Low Dinsdale I spend time to admire the old church with Norman tower and lych-gate before heading right down the lane. Passing a field of exotic livestock at Manor House Farm, I miss a left turn while trying to decide if they were llamas or alpacas, but I soon realise and retrace my steps to enter a well tarmacked single track road heading across the fields as straight as a die.

This anomalous feature is soon explained as I pass two or three exclusive properties – Spa Wells, Fish Locks and The Ashes – and at the last the road ends and the way is signed right over a stile and along a field edge adjacent to Black Wood. At a stile at the end of the wood a path crosses and the left option soon leads out onto Sockburn Lane (just about a mile from Neasham, reached in the previous leg).

Turning left down the lane, Liberty Lodge is soon reached (a pretty gabled cottage such that the Railway Children would live at) and then ten minutes further down the lane, High Sockburn, where a path left leads down towards the river and Girsby Bridge.

The bridge is a functional metal structure, but just across it I find a flat bit of rampart on which to sit and eat lunch. It’s the end of the week so it is an eclectic selection: pork pie, crisps, a jam scone, and a Titan bar, with the apple held back for emergencies. The spot is peaceful and pleasant but I have gone against one of my walking maxims – don’t stop for a break at the bottom of a hill – so it is a bit of a struggle to get going again up the steepish path to and around the back of Church House Farm. A few steps along their access lane a gap in the hedge on the left leads across a few fields via an ill-defined path; but the heading is due north, which means following my shadow at this time of day, and just heading for the  gaps and gates visible in the hedges.

Approaching White House the path goes to the right of the buildings (and a thankfully caged dog) and carries on along a field edge. At the corner of this field an inviting gap appears, but it must be ignored and the field boundary followed as it curves right to the way-marked gate. Into the next field the field edge is followed until a wood is approached, then a sign directs the way diagonally right up the slope, towards Hill House.

The field is exited by a gate and again the path resumes its northward track across fields and into the small Crosshill Woods, where the path turns sticky for a while, before reverting to a pleasant field path down into Over Dinsdale. Emerging via a smallholding (picking my way through free range hens, cocks, goats and a solitary sheep) into a lane, and after a turn or two I see ahead Middleton One Row, far away across the unseen river, with my car patiently awaiting my return.

Turning left, the road leads down over the Tees back to the church at Low Dinsdale, from where it is a case of retracing my earlier steps through Dinsdale Woods to Middleton One Row. No deer in sight this time, just a couple of bunnies on the slope up to the village, where the Devonport Hotel is on hand to provide a pint of bitter shandy to round off an excellent nine mile walk taking just over four hours.