County Durham Rambles - Lumley Castle to Penshaw Monument
Two years ago I started walking the Weardale Way from Killhope in upper Weardale to Roker beach at Sunderland. The brief as far as I was concerned was to walk it section by section using wherever possible public transport and avoid out and back routes. Up until reaching Chester Le Street this had worked rather well, or should I say the logistics had been quite simple with the respective start and finish points being connected by a convenient bus routes, or in the case of the Bishop Auckland to Durham and subsequent Durham to Chester Le Street sections a train.. I always knew however, that the twenty odd miles from Chester Le Street to Roker were going to be a problem; something which was only exasperated when I injured my right leg.
Prior to injuring my leg I would have hoped to have walked this section in it's entirety, sadly this is now out of the question and I had to break it into two. After some thorough researching of various bus company timetables I discovered that Go North East's country ranger service number 78 was within striking distance with a stop adjacent to Penshaw monument which seemed like an interesting place to finish the walk. Better than that, this service also stopped outside Riverside Park at Chester Le Street which was where I intended to park my car. As an aside Go North East have a very user friendly website showing both the route and timetable. Just make sure you click show all stops.
The route itself was pretty straight forward and involved walking the Weardale Way as far as Cox Green where I turned right and followed a network of well used foot paths up the side of Penshaw Hill to the monument itself. The car park at Riverside park cost £4.20 for an all day ticket (July 2024) which I thought was a bit steep at the time. I thought it was extremely cheap a week later when I paid £11 for the same length of time in Sunderland, but that's another story.
Riverside Park above. The car park is managed by Durham County Council and gets very busy on a weekend and during the school holiday. On the day I had no problem finding a parking place at 8 AM. There were no spaces left when I returned later that afternoon.
Leaving the car park I had to head east for a short distance on the B1284 crossing over the River Wear to the entrance to Lumley Castle and Chester Le Street Golf Club. Turning left here and following the public footpath for a short distance to where the road makes a sharp right turn, which was where I turned left, then immediate right onto the Weardale Way. It was then a matter of keeping both the Golf Course and the 14th Century Lumley Castle (now a hotel) on my right shoulder. This involves walking beside the river for a short distance, which was very pleasant, before turning right onto the golf course itself.
The River Wear from the B1284 bridge - above. Lumley Castle and the golf course - below.
I should probably say that the entirety of this route is covered on the Ordnance Survey 1:25000 scale explorer map number 308 (Durham & Sunderland as well as the excellent Ordnance Survey Premium app. It wouldn't be the Weardale Way though if there weren't a few quirky deviations and I was about to encounter the first of them here on the golf course. The map clearly shows the path making a left turn away from the golf course via Hag bridge, a stone bridge which crosses Lumley Park Burn, a tributary of the River Wear. No problem I thought clearly seeing a yellow public right of way marker next to a gap in the boundary fence, only on closer inspection there didn't seem to be a footpath at all, just an impenetrable mass off nettles and briers which would have torn my exposed legs to shreds. What baffled me was this clearly hadn't been used as a footpath for a very long time and yet there was a sign saying this was the way to go. It wasn't the first time I'd come across this phenomena on the Weardale way and after following the fence for another twenty or thirty yards I found a sign which had hitherto been hidden from view pointing the public access route across the bridge.
Once over Hags bridge the path meanders it's way through Lumley Park Wood alongside Lumley Park Burn. The ground was dry on the day and was good going under foot, although I could imagine it being a bit on the muddy side if wet. After approx 1 mile (from Hags Bridge) the path makes a sharp right turn where it descends and crosses the burn before making a short, sharp climb to Castle Dene.
The path through Lumley Park Woods above, and passing Castle Dene allotments below.
Emerging from Castle Dene via Pear TreTerrace the Wear Dale Way turns sharp left onto Forge Lane. I should maybe point out that if you expect to see any Weardale Way markers you will be sorely disappointed. I didn't see any on this section, nor did I see any on the following section to Roker beach so once again good map reading skills are essential.
Forge Lane took it's name from the now long defunct Lumley Forge which amongst other things made components for Timothy Hackworth's locomotive Royal George which was built in 1827 and worked on the Stockton and Darlington Railway pulling coal trains in excess of 100 tons.
With my legs now warmed up I crossed Forge Lane and followed the path under the A1(M) with Lumley Park Burn on my left shoulder. I have to say I was quite surprised at the steep drop under the motorway bridge, but this didn't last long and once again I found myself on a pleasant path following the Burn to meet the A1052 south of Bournmoor.
Lumley Park Burn above, and the A1(M) over bridge below.
The Weardale Way turns right on the A1052 for a short distance before turning left onto the course of the former Lambton Railway Lumley Branch Line which was used to haul Coal from the nearby Lambton collieries to the River Wear. Originally a series of horse drawn tramways the Lambton Railway became one of the biggest privately owned railways in the North East with 70 miles of track. It also had it's own workshops at Philadelphia where the locomotives and coal trucks were maintained. The Lambton Railway, along with the collieries it served all became part of the NCB when nationalised in 1947. Happily six former Lambton railway locomotives have survived into preservation.
Lambton locomotive number 29 above, currently on the North York Moors Railway - photo credit The Lambton Locomotive Trust https://www.facebook.com/LambtonLocosTrust/
The former Lambton railway Lumley branch track bed below.
Following the former track bed past New Lambton and a sign post pointing out the area's former mining heritage I across another of those Weardale Way discrepancies, if discrepancy is the word. This was at the point where the path is shown turning left before a railway bridge to run alongside (not on) another disused railway, only as I quickly found out this is not possible, or at least it wasn't in August 2024 owing to the fact the path quickly disappeared under a mass of impenetrable vegetation. Back tracking to the railway bridge I had no alternative other than to continue under it for two or three hundred yards where I turned left on a new section of Road for another 200 yards before turning left on the A183 to Wapping Bridge which brought me back to the Weardale Way. On the plus side there was a handy set of picnic tables which were a good place to take a break.
A sign post at New Lambton pointing out some of the area's former industrial land marks above, and below, the railway bridge where the Weardale Way is supposed to turn left before passing underneath it.
A welcome set of picnic tables on which to take a break, below.
Map showing the route I took to avoid the overgrown & impassable WDW which turned left before the railway bridge pictured above.
The WDW looking toward Biddick Woods from the A183 above, and the path through the woods themselves below.
After passing under the A182 I found myself reunited with the River Wear which I hadn't seen since Lumley Park. The river was quite obviously tidal at this point and in stark contrast to the crystal clear waters I followed from Killhope to Westgate almost two years earlier. It was actually quite an emotional moment as two years ago I fully expected to complete the WDW in a matter of months, not years (and yes, I know there are people who have run it in a day). Fate however, had other idea's and a progressively worsening ankle injury severely limited the distance I could walk at any one time. Hopefully this is behind me now and seeing the tidal Wear and knowing the end was in sight was something of a physical and emotional milestone on my road to recovery.
A glimpse of the tidal River Wear above, and Fatfield bridge below.
Following the path through Mount Pleasant I came across Station Road which crosses the nearby Fatfield Bridge (also known as Penshaw Bridge) which when it was opened in 1890 was the first road bridge across the River Wear. The bridge was designed by David Balfour and built by Head Wrightson engineering of Thornaby on Tees.
The view looking up stream from Fatfield bridge above, and the view looking downstream below.
A short distance down stream from Fatfield Bridge is Mount Pleasant Park which features a nice lake and some welcome park benches on which to take a short break.
The lake at Mount Pleasant park with it's flotilla of scrounging ducks above, and a good place to rest ones feet and take five below..
After a brief rest it was time to set off once more with the path following the river to Cox Green which is where I would leave the Weardale Way and work my way up the flanks of Penshaw hill. Two hundred years or so ago, this pleasant riverside path would have been a horse drawn railway or tramway which was used to deliver coal from the nearby pits to various staithes such as those at Cox Green where the coal was loaded onto ships. Not long after leaving Mount Pleasant Park the 120 foot high Victoria Viaduct hove into view. This is a disused (at present) railway viaduct spanning the river Wear which first opened for use in 1838, sadly passenger trains ceased using it in 1964 and freight trains in 1991.
Victoria viaduct above, and more evidence of the area's industrial past below.
The footbridge across the River Wear at Cox Green above. I didn't cross it on this walk. And the New Plough riverside cafe below, an excellent place to stop for a well earned cup of tea and piece of cake.
Once past the footbridge in Cox Green I turned right on the public road which climbed steeply from the village to a slight left hand bend where I turned right through a stile and continued climbing through a wooded area to Low Lambton where the path turns left and runs up the side of a field where it crosses the former Lambton railway track bed to it's junction with Cox Green Road. Crossing the road the path continues up the flank of Penshaw Hill until it meets a T junction of public footpaths where I turned left and wound my way up the the impressive Penshaw monument. This was the only notable climb of the day with roughly 450ft of elevation in 1.25 miles.
The stile marking the entrance to the public footpath at Cox Green above, and the path up the side of Penshaw Hill from Cox Green Road below. Penshaw monument is just visible over the trees in the centre of the picture.
The Kubix Festival at Herrington Country Park from Penshaw hill above, and Penshaw Monument below.
Penshaw momentum is actually a memorial to Sir John Lambton, the first Earl of Durham, who was also known as "Radical Jack"for his radical idea's on electoral reform when he was a member of parliament. For me the monument always reminds me of a visit I made here with my father when I was a young boy and the tale of the Lambton Worm. As far as the walk was concerned this was the end and it was a matter of walking down the hill to the main Road where I crossed the main road and walked the fifty yards or so toward Sunderland to the bus stop.where for the princely sum of two pounds I caught the number 78 bus back to Riverside Park. Total distance for the day was a shade under ten miles.
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this walk not least because it was the first walk of any distance for some months. For the most part the route can be summed up as a woodland or riverside walk inter-spaced with disused railway track beds. There's certainly nothing very taxing as far as terrain is concerned.If like me you're interested in history there was plenty to keep me interested along the way, not only that it brought me within striking distance of finishing the Weardale Way.
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