Stanhope Gate

From the Tourist Information Centre walk along Market Place towards Alston.

Almost immediately take the road that turns off to the right. It passes the Teesdale Hotel and is signposted ‘Stanhope’. This road leads you past the Victorian parish church of St Mary’s and rises steeply up Town Head, but you leave it fairly soon by taking the road with a no through road sign that runs off to the left (Beck Road). The road leads into the attractive Hudeshope Woods and quickly drops down to Hudeshope Beck.

As you walk you pass several small waterfalls and a picnic area. After just over 1/2 a mile you reach Snaisgill Beck running down from your right, immediately followed by a small stone building and then an old quarry on the same side. A path runs off to right straight after the quarry. Take this path. It soon turns to climb steeply through the trees. Ignore the path leading off to the right and continue up to a stone wall. Here another path climbs over steep wooden stile into fields. Ignore this and instead turn right and follow a path alongside the wall, Continuing by it as it turns north east and follow it, walking past a path branching off to the right, and going on up to a stone stile leading onto a road.

Once at the road turn right and walk down through the little hamlet of Snaisgill. Immediately past the last house on the left in this hamlet (Leny’s) a footpath sign directs you left into a field. Head diagonally across the field to a stone stile in the corner and then in the second field walk alongside the wall for about ten yards where you will find another stone stile. Once more head diagonally across the field and maintain the same direction across the next four fields, crossing each at a stone stile and in leaving the fourth just to the right of a stone barn.

There are some superb views as you cross this section of the walk, firstly looking behind Aukside, Coldberry and (further round to the right as you look) Monks Moor stand out clearly. Ahead you soon gain views of Crossthwaite Common and the bronze age burial mound of Kirkcarrion and further on the beautiful valley of Lunedale comes into sight. Having passed the stone barn turn down towards the footpath sign by the stile that leads out onto Stanhope Road. Once over the stile cross Stanhope Road to a stone stile marked with a footpath sign directly opposite. Sticking closely to the wall on your left, walk down the hill through two fields passing a small plantation and the derelict farm of Gill Harn on your left. There are impressive views of Middleton-in-Teesdale set in the Tees Valley below you.

As you approach the bottom of the second field the path changes to a track which bends round to the right and leads to a galvanised gate. Pass through the gate into a small filed. Directly opposite is a small gate under a little stone arch. Cross to the gate and from it you enter a small enclosed lane. Follow this lane with its free range chickens to its end and on your right you will see a stile into a field. Cross the stile and turn left to follow the fence down to small wooden gate with another stile behind it. This stile leads you into a farmyard (it is busy so dogs should be kept on a lead here). Pass between two barns and turn right down to a gate with another stile beside it.

Once over the stile turn left and walk down towards Middleton once more, keeping the wall on your left, to the next stile. Cross the stile and walk down towards the wooden gate ahead. On its right you will once more find a stone stile. Cross this and follow the track through the cottage’s garden to the road to Barnard Castle. Turn right and follow the road back into Middleton-in-Teesdale where you can find refreshments in one of the many cafes or pubs or at the fish and chip shop