Gadgie Walks

On the Tees again. (Yorks/Durham) Oct 19th
I just can't wait to get on the Tees again
Out walking with my gadgie friends,
I just can't wait to be on the Tees again

As Willie Nelson almost sang.
Holidays seem to be almost over. There are six of us out for a wander in Teesdale today. (John .C ., Harry, Dave, Ben, Brian and me)The little Scot has promised a warm day for October, no rain and a light breeze (which turned out to be a little heavier) so we are off to start from Middleton in Teesdale, a village surprisingly, in Teesdale. From Newcastle we went west on the A69, south on the A68 near Corbridge and on several minor roads through Stanhope then followed signs for the destination. (You go near Muggleswick which has recently attained some notoriety thanks to Harry Potter)
The map for the walk is OS Explorer OL 31 The North Pennines, and it's advisable.
Although there is a sign for long term parking in Middleton the site seemed to be closed and locked so we left cars on the high street before going to the TeesPot for breakfast. Really friendly little café, bacon sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, scones, tea or coffee and pleasant chat with the ladies running it.

Car parking in Middleton in Teesdale

Tees Pot café. Muddy boots welcome. It is vertical really

The walk.
From the high street we walked down to the bridge, crossed the river and turned right down a lane immediately after the cattle mart.

Cattle mart.

Three mini gadgies in the distance.

The path here crosses a number of fields, occasionally close to the river bank. Going from field to field requires climbing a stile; this gets more difficult as time goes by and has helped me formulate my third law of walking which states that "There is a very strong correlation between negotiating stiles and age." Or, as old men put it, it's difficult to get your leg over as you get older.

After a couple of miles the footpath is right next to the River Tees, the prettiest part of the walk.

Autumn by the Tees.

Eventually the path reaches Wynch bridge, a footbridge across the river just below Low Force, one of the two falls on the river near Middleton.

Low Force above, information below.

Having admired the fall and absorbed the information we went through a gate and walked across fields almost due south. A couple of fields later we were on the road that took us to Holwick Scars, a very impressive rock face. We decided it was a fine place to eat and settled down facing the scars on a grassy bank just out of the wind.

Herbie Time near Holwick Scars. We shared Titans, M&M cake, Ben's ginger biscuits and savoury scones from Mrs A. Lunch over we scrambled down the bank, crossed the stream and headed up the path visible in the picture going from centre left. The only climb of the day really.

Feeding time.
Once we had climbed to the top of the scars we headed south across moorland, Lauder Grass, heather and several streams to cross. Mostly too wide to jump and too deep to wade through but several had a couple of stepping stones to help the aged.
The path, not always too clear, turned south east over Brown Dod and from here we took the metalled track that passed a line of grouse butts.

Track, with grouse butts.
The track met the Pennine Way, long distance footpath, and turned south. We followed the Pennine Way north east across fields and eventually reached Middleton in Teesdale.

Approaching M in T. Not foggy, unfocused.

Changed we headed for the Forresters pub and hotel in Middleton. Disappointing, it had only one hand pulled beer on, Battle Axe. As a driver I suffered a pint of refreshing soda and lime.