Teesdale Way Section 3 (Holwick Head to Middleton-in-Teesdale)

Introduction

Section 3 of the Teesdale Way links Duke’s Bridge at Holwick Head with Middleton Bridge, Middleton-in-Teesdale and is the final section of trail way-marked as the Pennine Way. For the first half of the journey the trail stays alongside the river where the going is fairly gentle with gates, stiles and rocky sections. Just after the point at which they part company, there’s a short, rugged climb that can be overgrown with vegetation in summer. The landscape is increasingly pastoral (hence the increasing need for stiles) with a small amount of sheltering woodland. The route lies wholly within the North Pennines AONB and within Moor House Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve as far as Low Force, as well as crossing lands belonging to the Strathmore Estate.

Stats at a Glance

Distance 7.3 km/4.5 miles | Height Gain 41 m/134 ft | Maximum Elevation 287 m/942 ft | Going Generally good – mainly over farmland on well-constructed trails and footpaths which can be muddy in places. Generally sheltered with many stile crossings some of which are quite challenging | Navigation (OS Maps Explorer OL31; Landranger 91); GPS File | Hospitality & Supplies High Force (Ho) [0.5 km]; Holwick (PH/BB) [1 km]; Middleton-in-Teesdale (All) | Start Duke’s Bridge, Holwick Head NY 889283 (w3w: cave.saturate.revived) | Finish Middleton Bridge, Middleton-in-Teesdale NY 946252 (w3w: evaded.cars.dignify) | Grade Gentle | GALLERY

Trail Updates

The following updates have been published by The Durham Cow for this section: 280725

Description

After leaving Duke’s Bridge (sometimes known as Holwick Head Bridge) it’s an easy stroll on a good path following the Tees past Low Force (a nice picnic spot that’s popular with kayakers). You’ll pass Keith Alexander’s sculpture Sheep at Low Force before a short, rocky descent to Wynch Bridge (where you can also turn right, across the fields, to reach the village of Holwick).

Wynch Bridge is a Victorian chain-link suspension bridge that once provided miners from Holwick with access across the turbulent gorge in the Whin Sill. Today it offers an easy route to Bowlees Visitor Centre, Gibson’s Cave Nature Reserve and Summerhill Force, another of the area’s impressive waterfalls.

Continuing on the trail, you’ll see the distinctive spoil heaps and adits (tunnels) of Scorberry Mine on the right while, to the left, the river drifts lazily past Wynch Bank Plantation where the Whin Sill finally parts company with the trail. A bit further downstream is Scorberry Bridge which links the Teesdale Way with the neatly white-washed village of Newbiggin, offering an easy circuit to Bowlees Visitor Centre via Low Force. Take the time to look for fossils in the “Cockleshell Limestone” across the river by the bridge.

Downstream from the medieval village of Holwick, the landscape is dominated by stone-walled pastures. Consequently, you’ll spend much of what remains of the walk opening gates and climbing stiles. In springtime these fields are filled with sheep and their lambs. Holes in the walls allow livestock to be moved between field controlled by the farmer. The long, low humps in the landscape are drumlins, one of the many types of glacial feature for which Teesdale is well known.

After the short, rugged ascent I mentioned earlier, you descend gently past Park End Wood where the route reverts to its former gentle character though with the river more distant. Across the fields to the right, you get a good view of Kirkcarrion, probably Teesdale’s most distinctive landmark (very useful to locate Middleton-in-Teesdale within the dale). In front and below is Crossthwaite Quarry, one of several abandoned whinstone quarries that once worked the Whin Sill.

By the cattle market, the trail emerges onto the first main road encountered since Dufton (opposite a rare, half-buried, cast-iron milepost). Across the bridge is Middleton-in-Teesdale itself, the biggest town in the dale upstream of Barnard Castle and owes its current status entirely to its lead mining heritage. Here, you’ll find most of the hospitality options you’d expect along with transport links to Barnard Castle