Sunday 28 April 2013

Sunday Walking to Hawes

On Sunday, 5th May, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Wensleydale area of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. All walks will finish in Hawes {SD 875 898} - see the following map.
Map of the Moorcock Inn to Hawes area
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start at Hawes {SD 875 898} and will follow an anti-clockwise circular route that will take in Pike Hill, Shivery Gill, Sod Hole Gill, Lovely Seat, Little Shunner Fell, Great Shunner Fell, Hearne Top and Hardraw. This walk will involve 2400 feet of ascent.
 
The B-walk will commence at Hardraw {SD 867 912} and will visit Great Shunner Fell, Hearne Top and Bluebell Hill.
 
The C-walk will set off from the Moorcock Inn {SD 797 926} and will pass through The High Way, Cotterdale and Hardraw.
 
This is a Route 2 coach pick-up (Billingham: 9.00 am, Acklam: 9.15 am and Stockton: 9.30 am).
 

Friday 26 April 2013

B-Walking: Hamsterley to Wolsingham via Potato Hill

Our three walks on Sunday, 21st April were scheduled to take place in the Weardale area of County Durham. The B-Walk set off from Hamsterley and the C-Walk took the form of a circular route from Wolsingham. Unfortunately, the A-Walk did not take place due to a lack of A-Walkers.
 
The B-Walk was expertly led by Bill McTimoney (pictured below). There were 15 walkers in the group and the walk covered a distance of just under 12 miles.
Bill McTimoney - B-Walk Leader

Leaving Hamsterley on a north-westerly bearing, Bill's route took us down hill to Howlea Bridge and then west along Bedburn Beck to Bedburn. From here we made our way into Hamsterley Forest. We stopped for lunch at Ayhope Beck - near Potato Hill {NZ 071 312}.
 
After lunch we made our way in a westerly direction to the Meeting of the Grains and then turned onto a northerly bearing in order to cross over Pikeston Fell. We took a short tea break in a field at {NZ 042 344} - just east of Allotment House. From here we had some good views of Weardale - particularly, the area to the north of Frosterley.
 
Following our tea stop, we made a northerly descent to West Biggins Farm. From here we made our way in an easterly direction towards East Biggins Farm. Now changing to a north-easterly bearing we followed a footpath to Coves House Farm and then joined the 'old' route of the Weardale Way. We followed this in an easterly direction to Wolsingham Bridge - where we crossed the River Wear. From here we made our way into the centre of Wolsingham. We arrived in plenty of time to enable us to partake of refreshments before starting our journey home.
 
Many thanks to Bill for organising such a grand day out.
 
A selection of some of the photos that we took during today's walking expedition can be seen by clicking on the pink button below:


Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.

 

Thursday 25 April 2013

Walking the Great Glen Way

During the early part of April, two groups of SRC A-Walkers separately set off to walk the route of the Great Glen Way in Scotland. The walk runs between Fort William (on the west coast) and Inverness (on the east coast) and covers a distance of 79 miles. Further details of the walk can be found here.
 
Jane, Lorraine and Phil set off on their expedition from Fort William on the 14th April while Peter and Les departed on their trek about a week later.
 
Our five-day walking expedition along the Great Glen Way (GGW) was made up of the following sections:
 
    Day 1: Fort William to Gairlochy (10.5 miles)
    Day 2: Gairlochy to Invergarry (16.3 miles)
    Day 3: Invergarry to Invermoriston (17.1 miles)
    Day 4: Invermoriston to Drumnadrochit (13.4 miles)
    Day 5: Drumnadrochit to Inverness (18.8 miles)
 
We set off on our trek from Fort William on Sunday, 14th April and arrived at our destination outside Inverness Castle on Thursday, 19th April at about 17:00 hrs. Along the way, the GGW route was well marked and sign-posted and took us through some very interesting and, on many occasions, very spectacular countryside.
 
For a considerable part of the walk, our trek followed the route of the Caledonian Canal and the various lochs that this inter-connects. The lock systems in Fort William (Neptune's Staircase) and in Fort Augustus were very impressive - as was the length of Loch Ness! Bearing in mind the large number of trees in this area, there was a substantial amount of 'forest walking' to do. The paths we used gave us some superb views - but they were very hard on our feet!
 
During our five days of walking we had some very mixed weather - plenty of wind and rain and, on some days, we even experienced some sunshine. It was quite cold and there was still lots of snow on much of the high ground - particularly on the hills around Ben Nevis.
 
During our trek along the Great Glen Way we took lots and lots of photos. A small selection of some of these can be seen by clicking on the pink button below:
 

Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.

 

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Early-May Mid-Week Walking (2013-04-30)

During the week beginning 30th April, Stockton Rambling Club will have TWO mid-week walks available. One is an evening walk and the other is a day walk.
 


The evening walk is on Wednesday, 1st May and will start at 7.00 pm from Wynyard Woodland Park, off the A177 road near Thorpe Thewles {NZ 403 242} - see the map below.
Map of the Thorpe Thewles area.

This walk will be not be longer than 6 miles.
Please ring 01740-644347 for more details.
 


The day walk is on Thursday, 2nd May. It will start at 10.30 am from Pinchinthorpe Visitor Centre {NZ 584 153} - see the map below.
Map of Pinchinthorpe Visitor Centre

The length of this walk will be up to 8 miles.
Please telephone 01642-882507 for more details.
 

Tuesday 23 April 2013

LAKES DAY: Sunday Walking to Keswick

On Sunday, 28th April, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Keswick area of the Lake District. All walks will start and finish in Keswick {NY 263 236} - see the following map.
Map of the Keswick area
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk (13.0 miles) will involve 3200 feet of ascent and will take in Carl Side, Skiddaw and Skiddaw House.
 
The B-walk (10.5 miles) will entail 2100 feet of ascent and will visit Derwentfolds, Guide Stone, a section of the Cumbria Way and Latrigg.
 
The C-walk (9.0 miles) will encounter 1200 feet of ascent and will pass through Latrigg, Brundholme, Ings and The Riddings.
 
This is a Route 2 coach pick-up and is also an EARLY START (Billingham: 8.30 am, Acklam: 8.45 am and Stockton: 9.00 am).
 

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Late-April Mid-Week Walking (2013-04-22)

During the week beginning 22nd April, Stockton Rambling Club will have TWO mid-week walks available. One is an evening walk and the other is a day walk.
 


The evening walk is on Wednesday, 24th April and will start at 7.00 pm from the Royal Oak in Great Ayton - see the map below.
 
Map of Great Ayton area.

This walk will be not be longer than 6 miles (C-pace).
Please ring 01642-863538 for more details.
 


The day walk is on Thursday, 25th April. It will start at 10.30 am from Barnard Castle Post Office {NZ 049 166} - see the map below.
Map of Barnard Castle Area
Crown Copyright (2012). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The length of this walk will be up to 9 miles (B-pace).
Please telephone 01642-678534 for more details.
 

Sunday 14 April 2013

Sunday Walking to Wolsingham

On Sunday, 21st April, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Weardale area of the County Durham. All walks will finish in Wolsingham {NZ 075 372} - see the following map.
Map of the Hamsterley to Wolsingham area
Crown Copyright (2012). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start at Hamsterley {NZ 119 310} and will take in The Grove, Black Hill and Sunnyside Edge.
 
The B-walk will also commence at Hamsterley and will visit Bedburn Hall, Potatoe Hill and Allotment House.
 
The C-walk will set off from Wolsingham {NZ 075 372} and will follow a circular route that passes through Chatterley, Sunnyside Edge and Harehope.
 
This is a Route 3 coach pick-up (Acklam: 9.00 am, Stockton: 9.15 am and Billingham: 9.30 am).
 

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Mid-April Mid-Week Walking (2013-04-15)

During the week beginning 15th April, Stockton Rambling Club will have THREE mid-week events available. The first is an evening walk, the second is a day walk and the third is a Museum visit (plus an optional walk).
 


The first event is a day walk and will take place on Wednesday, 17th April. It will start at 10.30 am from St Peter's Church in Thornaby {NZ 450 164} - see the map below.
Map of Thornaby area.
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

This walk will be not be longer than 5 miles (D-pace).
Please ring 01642-655345 for more details.
 


The second event is an evening walk and will also take place on Wednesday, 17th April. It will start at 7.00 pm from Nunthorpe Church {NZ 540 164} - see the map below.
 
Map of Nunthorpe Church Area

The length of this walk will be up to 6 miles (C-pace).
Please telephone 01642-764006 for more details.
 


The third event is a visit to Durham Light Infantry Museum in Durham City {NZ 270 433} - see the following map.

Map of DLI Museum in Durham City
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The visit take place on Thursday, 18th April. The cost of this event is £3.60 (concessions £2.60). Further details are available from Bill McTimoney on 01740-644347 - through whom bookings should be made.
 
Following the museum visit there will be an optional 6-mile walk (C-pace).
 

Sunday 7 April 2013

Sunday Walking to Grosmont

On Sunday, 14th April, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Sleights area of the North York Moors. All walks will start in Sleights {NZ 867 080} and finish in Grosmont {NZ 827 052} - see the following map.
Map of the Sleights-Grosmont area
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will take in New May Beck, Lilla Howe, Moorgates and Beck Hole.
 
The B-walk will visit Midge Hall, York Cross Rigg, Hawthorne Hill and Green End.
 
The C-walk will pass through Oak Hill, Prior Farm, Murk Esk and Esk Valley.
 
This is a Route 1 coach pick-up (Billingham: 9.00 am, Stockton: 9.15 am and Acklam: 9.30 am).
 

Friday 5 April 2013

Easter A-Walking in Lancashire

On the weekend of 29th March, JT and PB travelled west to their 'base camp' in Blackburn in order to check out the A-Walk routes for the forthcoming SRC weekend in May.
 
Jane's walk took the form of an anti-clockwise circular route starting and finishing at Abbey Village near Rake Brook Reservoir. A considerable part of this walk followed the path of the Witton Weavers Way. One of the high-lights of this walk was the tremendous views that we got from Jubilee Tower on Darwen Hill.
 
Phil's A-Walk took the form of a clockwise circular route starting from the pub at Leys End - mid-way between Ogden Reservoir and Holden Wood Reservoir. Several sections of this walk followed the route of the Rossendale Way. One of the outstanding features of this trek was the spectacular scenery we saw in the National Trust land around Holcombe Moor - which is also used as a military training ground!
 
Although we had some lovely sunny weather, the residual snow on the high ground did have some detrimental affects on our progress. At one point, while traversing a snow-covered stream on Longworth Moor, PB disappeared up to his waist in a snow-drift! On another occasion, between Great Hill and Pickup Bank, the deep snow-drifts prevented us opening a gate - which required us to make an appropriate (lengthy) detour!
 
Overall, despite the time it took us to check-out our routes, we had two great walks. We are both looking forward to returning to this area in May for some more wonderful walking in Lancashire.
 
A selection of some of the photos that we took during our Lancashire walking expedition can be seen by clicking on the pink button below:


Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.

 

Thursday 4 April 2013

Mid-April Mid-Week Walking (2013-04-08)

During the week beginning 8th April, Stockton Rambling Club will have TWO mid-week walks available. One is an evening walk and the other is a day walk.
 


The evening walk is on Wednesday, 10th April and will start at 7.00 pm from the Masham hostelry in Hartburn Village - see the map below.
Map of the Hartburn area.
This walk will be not be longer than 6 miles (C-pace).
Please ring 01642-689344 for more details.
 


The day walk is on Thursday, 11th April. It will start at 10.30 am from Bishop Auckland Rugby Ground Car Park {NZ 205 300} - see the map below.
Map of Bishop Auckland Area
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The length of this walk will be up to 9 miles (B-pace).
Please telephone 01740-644347 for more details.
 

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Sunday Walking to Castleton

On Sunday, 7th April, the Stockton Rambling Club will have three walks in the Battersby area of the North York Moors. All walks will finish in Castleton {NZ 680 077} - see the following map.
Map of the Great Ayton-Castleton area
Crown Copyright (2013). All rights reserved. Licence No. 100046831.
Produced using Anquet Maps.

The A-walk will start at Great Ayton {NZ 561 107} and will take in Battersby, The Incline, Burton Howe and Skinner Howe.
 
The B-walk will also commence at Great Ayton and will visit Battersby, The Incline, Baysdale Abbey and Skinner Howe.
 
The C-walk will set off from Battersby Avenue {NZ 591 081} and will pass through Kildale, Hob Hole and Carr House.
 
This is a Route 1 coach pick-up (Billingham: 9.00 am, Stockton: 9.15 am and Acklam: 9.30 am).