It’s a Stanhope in Weardale finish for us on the 7th November. We were last there in October 2019 and the routes were mostly from Edmundbyers downhill into Stanhope. We are still going downhill, well mostly, but this time the routes have changed slightly. Not that anyone is going to remember them from six years ago anyway. Depending on where go we always try to get the routes heading in slightly different directions. Sometimes this is just not possible as all the potential routes just seem to go in one direction. However, on the way to Stanhope we have a variety of different routes to choose from.

Just after the village Of Edmundbyers the 10.5-mile route starts at Burnhope Bridge and takes footpath that goes roughly in the same direction as the B6278 road but further to the north-west. As the route swings south it joins a permissive path that was once a railway track and follows this path to the remains of Weatherhill Engine Shed.

The engine shed that once stood on the site was a huge building, built in 1833, that housed a winding engine that hauled wagons up the very steep incline from Stanhope. The wagons contained limestone which was quarried in Stanhope. Limestone was used in the process of smelting iron ore. Once the wagons had been hauled up the incline they continued their journey to the smelting furnaces at Consett and South Shields.

The 10.5-mile route continues down the incline and climbs down through the old quarries to finish in Stanhope. The 8.5-mile route, which is the third route to start begins by also walking down the incline from Weatherhill but instead of going into Stanhope the route heads south-east as far as Frosterly before crossing the River Wear and heading back to Stanhope on the Weardale Way.

The 9.5-mile route begins between both the other two routes and heads west on a permissive path that leads down into Rookhope. From the village the route goes downhill following the Weardale Way on either side of Rookhope Burn. As the burn flows into the River Wear the route continues on the Weardale Way on the south side of the river all the way into Stanhope.      

Edmundbyers, Weatherhill, Frosterly, Rookhope, and Stanhope, if these are places you have never visited now is you chance to come and see one. two or three of them. If you would like to join us for these walks you can get in touch with us from our Contact Page, you can also download the walk descriptions  here and the GPS route here.

The images for this post were taken in September this year on a visit to the Braithwaite in the Lake District.