Weardale Way Section 4 (Rookhope to Stanhope)
Introduction
Section 4 of the Weardale Way starts at the Rookhope Inn, Rookhope and finishes on the south side of the ford on the River Wear at Stanhope. The first half of the route takes in a wide variety of terrain including an indistinct, rugged ascent of Smailsburn Common which can be muddy and/or boggy and where visibility can be extremely limited depending on conditions. While Rookhope is extremely quiet these days, the adjoining village of Boltsburn was a hive of industrial activity in the c19th. Railways reached out over the moors, on both sides of the village, servicing mines, smelters and quarries (the long, straight track over Bolt’s Law, behind the village, was originally an incline plane by which tubs of coal and lead were transported in and out of the dale).
Stats at a Glance
Distance 10 km/6.2 miles | Elevation Gain 134 m/439 ft | Maximum Elevation 399 m/1309 ft (Smailsburn Common) | Going Generally firm with muddy, wet and boggy sections through farmland, riparian woodland, general woodland, upland pasture/moorland | Exposure Very exposed (particularly the first half) | Supplies & Hospitality Rookhope (BH; PH); Eastgate (PH); Stanhope (All) [0.5 km] | Start Rookhope Inn, Rookhope NY 938428 | Finish Stanhope Ford NY 991391 | Grade Challenge | GPS File
Description
From the Rookhope Inn you cross the Rookhope Burn and start uphill, through a small industrial estate. Proceed onto Smailsburn Common via a way-marked stile, heading ever more steeply upwards over rough – potentially boggy – ground, towards the south-west corner of the intake. There’s a track of sorts, that will take you in the right direction, but the trick is finding it – the GPS file or a compass bearing will be a great help. If you’re at all unsure you can retrace Section 3’s route along the railway path.
From the top of the common there’s a long descent back to the railway path at Smailsburn Farm using stiles to cross a couple of field boundaries. Turn right on the path at the farm and continue uphill towards a large conifer plantation on the right of the track (there’s a WW arrow on the reverse side of an electricity pole indicating that you can bear off the path at this point). Turn left and descend, increasingly steeply, over open ground to a stile at the road. Cross the Rookhope Burn using the nearby footbridge and continue on the trail past the wooded ruins of Brandon Walls Lead Mine. Beyond the mine, the trail undulates steeply over Ambling Gate Bank and Ashy Bank before entering more woodland where it descends to an access road at Hole House Farm.
After a lengthy section on this lane you arrive at the A689 in Eastgate. Check out the replica of a Roman altar next to the bus-stop (the original was found in the Rookhope Burn nearby). By the roadside, across the bridge to the right, you’ll find the Cross Keys Inn, a former post office. Back on the route: cross the road, turn left then, a bit further on, turn right downhill on the lane to Hagg Bridge caravan park. Through the gates, continue directly through the park, either following the road or over the grass to a stile (before rejoining the road) then into a narrow strip of woodland between the River Wear and the disused railway.
Leave the woodland via a gate, almost hidden by bushes, directly alongside the railway. Continue on the trail – around a private garden – through another gate, and along the edge of an expansive field, following the river towards a stile leading onto the disused railway. Over the railway, turn right and continue on the trail between Greenfoot Quarry and Briggen Winch where you can view the volcanic Little Whin Sill in its natural and quarried form. Cross Stanhope Bridge and continue to the end of the section at Stanhope Ford.
Updates
The following updates have been published by The Durham Cow for this section: 250425