This is just a quick post to apologise for the lack of content over recent weeks but I’ve been somewhat preoccupied with preparing for, and walking, the Southern Upland Way with my wife, Diane. If you don’t know it, the 214 mile route stretches across Scotland’s Southern Uplands south of the line Glasgow-Edinburgh, from Portpatrick …
Saturday 4th June 2022 With a fast approaching ten-day walking trip along the Southern Upland Way at the end of the month we needed to spend some time honing our fitness and camp-craft and testing various bits of gear including my new rucksack and trail shoes. Although we’ve done a fair bit of camping with …
12th June 2022 Map, Route Details & Downloads on Plotaroute.com Reflecting on a fitful night’s sleep: our lightweight Nordisk Telemark UL2 tent (1 kg with poles and pegs) had felt much like I’d remembered it: compact but with barely enough room to stow gear. Diane’s was at her feet while much of mine was crammed …
11th June 2022 Map, Route Details & Downloads on Plotaroute.com With 40 mph winds suddenly and unexpectedly forecast for the Cheviots in Northern England, Diane and I made a quick decision to abandon our planned camping trip to Wooler, in Northumberland, and drive the short distance back home for a re-think. An hour-and-a-half later we …
As often happens to many of us when we reach a milestone birthday, there’s a pressure to ‘tick boxes’ and for me, after turning 60, it was simply to take part in a road marathon. Despite running and cycling for many years, in events lasting days rather than hours, I’ve never done a marathon on …
Translating as ‘beautiful retreat’ from the French by which it was originally known, this now ruined manor house stands on a promontory above the River Browney in what was once a 1,300-acre, walled deer-park, two miles (three km) west of Durham City. The location is pastoral and pleasant despite many years of having been in …
Visitors to Barnard Castle will be hard-pressed to miss a distinctive two-storey building acting as a roundabout at the junction of The Bank, Newgate and Market Place in Barnard Castle. Since its construction in 1747 the Market Cross – also known as the ‘Market Hall’, ‘Butter Market’ and ‘Butter Mart’ – has been used as …
If you’re walking through Teesdale on the Teesdale Way you’re bound to encounter pairs of what look like milk churns or chimney pots, split down the middle and usually rust-red in colour. Inscribed vertically on each are the place names of the Teesdale parishes whose boundaries they mark: Middleton-in-Teesdale, Eggleston, Romaldkirk, Hunderthwaite, Cotherstone, Lartingon, Barnard …
We’re happy to say that the footbridge across the Rookhope Burn leading into Rookhope village at the end of Section 3 (or beginning of Section 4) is now OPEN. The bridge lies inconspicuously alongside an imposing sliding gate which, when it’s closed, might make it look like there’s no access. The Rookhope Inn however, remains …
As part of the continuing development works affecting the south side of the river between Queen Alexandra Bridge and Wearmouth Bridge, Section 14 of the Weardale Way is once again closed, which could persist until 2023. When we visited, we found the situation to be messy with no official diversions in place around the affected …
