Blanchland, Buckshot and Bolts. (Durham mostly) April 12th.
A cold bright day in April, what better than a walk. Six of us, (John H., John Ha., Ben, Dave, harry and I ) are off to Blanchland again, but a different walk.
(A69 west, A68 South, watch out for road signs to Blanchland)
A few weeks ago the car park had an honesty box, asking for £1 for the day. The box has been vandalised for its contents, a notice asks parkers to leave their £1 at the village store or Post Office, which we did of course.
The map for the walk is OS Explorer 307 Consett and Derwent Reservoir and the car park is at GR NY964504, approximately.
Honesty box, smashed for a few £s and a quiet car park. The large stone at the right was ideal for boot changing.
Changed and ready for the off we left the car park and walked through the village, passing the church, the Lord Crewe Arms and the squares of cottages.
Anglican church of St. Mary, based on the old abbey
Cottages built by the Crewe Trust.
Continuing down the road in a roughly southern direction we crossed the River Derwent and walked along the road for some time until, as the road turned sharp right we went through a gate and joined a Public Bridle path (You can take your horse on it) across fields and on to open moorland on Buckshott Fell.
Much of the heather had been burned off. This is to encourage the growth of new shoots which feed the grouse so they are good and fat for shooting on August 12th.
A good track to follow, at a junction we turned right and walked on until we came to a minor road, recently resurfaced too. Turning left we soon came to the track on the right going across more moorland, alongside the remains of an ancient flue, and passing an equally ancient chimney.
An ancient chimney, high on the moors. This area once supported lead mines, hence the flue and chimney, you need a roaring furnace to smelt metals.
Near the chimneys is Sikehead Dam and a small reservoir.
Sikehead.
From the water we followed footpath across the burned heather, passing grouse butts until we reached the top of Bolt's Law, a mere 540metres above sea level. (1772 feet ). Bolt' Law has a cairn and a trig point.
Does anybody know where we are and how do we get home?
Actually we did and followed the fence line downhill to Ferny Gill. A word of warning; the footpath here hardly exists, the ground is boggy as I know, I walked into one up to my knee in soggy boggy mud, soaked boot and gaiters and trousers, not happy.
Across the gill we turned north east and came to a dilapidated building we considered for a Herbie but rejected it. From the building we took the right track, still downhill to Ramshaw.
This valley was once a hive of industry, mostly lead and flourspar mining and there are a good number of disused shafts and quarries marked on the map.
Today it is a pretty valley with a few cottages, old farm and old mill. This time there are enough daffodils in bloom to make you want to write a poem.
Ramshaw with daffodils and the back end of a transit van
Beyond the cottages we at on a grassy bank for a Herbie; Titans, Ben's ginger biscuits, Mrs Ha's Tiffin (gorgeous) cookies and chocolate bars.
Herbie time in Ramshaw.
Lunch over we followed the road next to Bolt's Burn for a short distance before taking the footpath on the left on a very pretty track through the woods. At the exit a large sign proclaims that the wood is managed by "Eggars", the company that makes chipboard and an ugly skyline in Hexham.
A short distance down the road we crossed the River Derwent at Bay Bridge (called Baybridge on the map but it has a fine car park which is free too). Once safely over we turned right and followed the footpath by the river back to Blanchland.
After a brief discussion in the car park we chose the Punchbowl in Edmundbyers for some rehydration. Friendly staff who were happy to discuss beers, their merits and demerits. They had several on offer but I was driving. Good coffee though.
Contains OS data, copyright. Crown copyright and database right 2019.
MATRIX MMXIX 4b
steps miles
NAK 24172 8.7
Dave's NAK 1 18341 8.68
""""""""""""""2 18348 8.6
"""""""""""USB 18980 8.76
Sylvia's mother was unwell
More pictures
A cold bright day in April, what better than a walk. Six of us, (John H., John Ha., Ben, Dave, harry and I ) are off to Blanchland again, but a different walk.
(A69 west, A68 South, watch out for road signs to Blanchland)
A few weeks ago the car park had an honesty box, asking for £1 for the day. The box has been vandalised for its contents, a notice asks parkers to leave their £1 at the village store or Post Office, which we did of course.
The map for the walk is OS Explorer 307 Consett and Derwent Reservoir and the car park is at GR NY964504, approximately.
Changed and ready for the off we left the car park and walked through the village, passing the church, the Lord Crewe Arms and the squares of cottages.
Continuing down the road in a roughly southern direction we crossed the River Derwent and walked along the road for some time until, as the road turned sharp right we went through a gate and joined a Public Bridle path (You can take your horse on it) across fields and on to open moorland on Buckshott Fell.
Much of the heather had been burned off. This is to encourage the growth of new shoots which feed the grouse so they are good and fat for shooting on August 12th.
A good track to follow, at a junction we turned right and walked on until we came to a minor road, recently resurfaced too. Turning left we soon came to the track on the right going across more moorland, alongside the remains of an ancient flue, and passing an equally ancient chimney.
Near the chimneys is Sikehead Dam and a small reservoir.
From the water we followed footpath across the burned heather, passing grouse butts until we reached the top of Bolt's Law, a mere 540metres above sea level. (1772 feet ). Bolt' Law has a cairn and a trig point.
Actually we did and followed the fence line downhill to Ferny Gill. A word of warning; the footpath here hardly exists, the ground is boggy as I know, I walked into one up to my knee in soggy boggy mud, soaked boot and gaiters and trousers, not happy.
Across the gill we turned north east and came to a dilapidated building we considered for a Herbie but rejected it. From the building we took the right track, still downhill to Ramshaw.
This valley was once a hive of industry, mostly lead and flourspar mining and there are a good number of disused shafts and quarries marked on the map.
Today it is a pretty valley with a few cottages, old farm and old mill. This time there are enough daffodils in bloom to make you want to write a poem.
Beyond the cottages we at on a grassy bank for a Herbie; Titans, Ben's ginger biscuits, Mrs Ha's Tiffin (gorgeous) cookies and chocolate bars.
Lunch over we followed the road next to Bolt's Burn for a short distance before taking the footpath on the left on a very pretty track through the woods. At the exit a large sign proclaims that the wood is managed by "Eggars", the company that makes chipboard and an ugly skyline in Hexham.
A short distance down the road we crossed the River Derwent at Bay Bridge (called Baybridge on the map but it has a fine car park which is free too). Once safely over we turned right and followed the footpath by the river back to Blanchland.
After a brief discussion in the car park we chose the Punchbowl in Edmundbyers for some rehydration. Friendly staff who were happy to discuss beers, their merits and demerits. They had several on offer but I was driving. Good coffee though.
MATRIX MMXIX 4b
steps miles
NAK 24172 8.7
Dave's NAK 1 18341 8.68
""""""""""""""2 18348 8.6
"""""""""""USB 18980 8.76
Sylvia's mother was unwell
More pictures
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