Back on the tracks (Durham) November 16th
After a warm week on the Spanish Mediterranean coast with the gadgette I am back out with a small group of gadgies to enjoy a forest walk devised by Dave and centred on the Beamish Museum near Stanley in County Durham. There is a small team, consisting of John Ha., Brian, Dave and me, starting from the car park and picnic site just outside the museum. To get there from Newcastle, A1 south, turn off at Chester le Street and follow signs for Stanley and Beamish Museum. Just before the massive entrance turn left into a Yorkshire style car park.
The map that covers the walk is OS Explorer 308 Durham and Sunderland and it's advisable.

Car park and Museum entrance. Beamish is well worth spending a whole day in. It has a town, trams, buses, a mine a farm and a fish and chip shop. And a school with sums in old UK money such as £12;7s 6d x 8 (Ans;£139) and that's an easy one.

The walk makes use of  the trails made from disused and dismantled railways and the Great North Forest Trail, sometimes marked as Heritage trail.
We left the car park along a trail in the north west corner, following three ladies on horseback, they were soon far ahead. The path, part of the Consett and Sunderland Railway Path goes west through Hellhole Wood before turning north through Carrickshill Wood, across a minor road, over a field to the Causey Road. We walked along the road a short distance  to the entrance to East Tanfield Station.

Easy to spot, the sign at East Tanfield Station.

Much of the walk is through woodland.

There are hundreds of these silhouettes around the country to mark the hundred years since the end of World War 1

Past the station the footpath wanders through the woods above the Causey Gill until it reaches Causey Arch.

Causey Arch is the oldest railway bridge in the world. It was built in 1725, one hundred years before the Stockton and  Darlington Railway. It was part of a line built to carry coal to the Tyne and was either horse or gravity powered, depending which way you went. It was renovated in the 1960s.

Coal wagons like this were used on the track.

We walked on to the Causey Arch tea rooms, turned left down a road and at the bottom of a hilltook the footpath around a field, over more field and down a short lane to the Tyneside Railway Museum which had a picnic table, so we called a Herbie.

Picnic spot; Galaxy chocolate cake, ginger cookies, mince pies and savoury muffins from Mrs. A

Workshop area of the museum. Closed for winter.

After lunch we crossed the road and  walked east along a lane towards Birkhead Cottages, turning south at a difficult to spot footpath. A field or so later we crossed Hedley Lane got lost. We were off the Great North Forest Trail in a lightly wooded area with several footpaths. Evbentually we found the track to take us to Hedley Hall Farm, more of a settlement than a farm with several cottages and barn conversions. The footpath goes through the farmyard, across rough ground where we saw a deer, and enters Mill Wood. Turning left on a lane then right to follow the footpath just inside the wood on Beamish East Moor, following the Tyne Wear Trail.

At the end of the wood we came to a road, turned right and walked past the cottages at High Forge.

Just beyond the forge, on the left the walk through Ousbrough Wood is sign posted. Another easy stretch of woodland until we came to a steep stepped path down to a footbridge.

Not sure because I can't see a name on the map but this footbridge crosses the Team Valley stream

Having walked down the steep bank we were rewarded with a steep climb through the woods, not on the Forest trail, but a footpath that brought us to a road  and the pub, The Shepherd and Shepherdess, very close to the museum entrance and the car park. Having changed from very muddy boots we went to the pub, surprise.

The pub near the museum. Warm and welcoming and with three ales on hand pumps, Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Wainwright and one made for the pub. The soda and lime was good too, as was the tea said John.

Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and databaseright 2018

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More pictures on a gloomy slightly foggy day