{"id":2140,"date":"2020-11-07T02:19:50","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T01:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=2140"},"modified":"2020-10-31T23:43:11","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T22:43:11","slug":"westgate-and-the-weardale-moors-co-durham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=2140","title":{"rendered":"Westgate and the Weardale Moors, Co. Durham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=740,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/> First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Westgate.jpg');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396639663_77104d78fe_z.jpg\" title= \"50396639663 Middlehope Lodge and the Weardale moors, from Springsike Road\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396639663_77104d78fe_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396636993_48533fe1cb_z.jpg\" title= \"50396636993 Waterfall of Middlehope Burn\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396636993_48533fe1cb_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396636678_dd74c82ebb_z.jpg\" title= \"50396636678 Middlehope Burn in Slitt Wood\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396636678_dd74c82ebb_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397321576_b5e6bfe6d0_z.jpg\" title= \"50397321576 Low Slitt Lead Mine info board\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397321576_b5e6bfe6d0_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397485312_806d2f3d6c_z.jpg\" title= \"50397485312 Bouseteems (lead ore stores) at Low Slitt Mine, Weardale\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397485312_806d2f3d6c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397322211_ee1ecc8dbd_z.jpg\" title= \"50397322211 Low Slitt Mine, Weardale, with spoil heaps above\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397322211_ee1ecc8dbd_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397484997_0acf1560a6_z.jpg\" title= \"50397484997 Low Slitt Mine dam, Weardale\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397484997_0acf1560a6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396637088_9693c0ca85_z.jpg\" title= \"50396637088 Upper Middle Hope valley\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396637088_9693c0ca85_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397485322_0b9809618d_z.jpg\" title= \"50397485322 Springsike Road walled lane\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397485322_0b9809618d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396637163_135d1f8153_z.jpg\" title= \"50396637163 Upper Middle Hope valley 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396637163_135d1f8153_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396639028_d79eabb06f_z.jpg\" title= \"50396639028 Mountain pansy, Springsike Road\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396639028_d79eabb06f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397325196_9f28988b7e_z.jpg\" title= \"50397325196 Low Slitt Mine culvert\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397325196_9f28988b7e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396640038_009acbb2d6_z.jpg\" title= \"50396640038 hydraulic engine base, Low Slitt Mine\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396640038_009acbb2d6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397325256_acdbff1f50_z.jpg\" title= \"50397325256 lumps and bumps of lead mining at Low Slitt\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397325256_acdbff1f50_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397347586_1ef830f7a2_z.jpg\" title= \"50397347586 fluorspar from Middlehope Old Mine\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397347586_1ef830f7a2_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397510472_cc4e469265_z.jpg\" title= \"50397510472 autumn gentian just beginning to bloom, Middlehope Bank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397510472_cc4e469265_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397347846_0325f89c32_z.jpg\" title= \"50397347846 River Wear on the way back to Westgate\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397347846_0325f89c32_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397510882_64fd3165fd_z.jpg\" title= \"50397510882 Springsike Road 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397510882_64fd3165fd_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396662523_4d5bb939ee_z.jpg\" title= \"50396662523 Middlehope Bank road\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50396662523_4d5bb939ee_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397510927_9c4f37c1cb_z.jpg\" title= \"50397510927 looking south across Weardale on the way down to Westgate\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397510927_9c4f37c1cb_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397357386_7874924867_z.jpg\" title= \"50397357386 Upper Middle Hope valley 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/50397357386_7874924867_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=2140\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=2140','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nA strong cold breeze was blowing off the Durham moors down Weardale, and clouds jostled with blue sky on the skyline to north and south. We peeked in the windows of Westgate\u2019s remarkable Methodist Chapel, its pews massed in a thicket of curlicued and painted ironwork. Primitive Methodism was a strongly held faith here in west Durham, whose lead miners and pack horsemen led rough and uncertain lives.<\/p>\n<p>A footpath led north from the village up a steep-sided cleft where the Middlehope Burn came jumping and sparkling down over rocky steps and ledges. We followed upstream to a wide bend of the burn; here the remnants of Low Slitt* lead mine lay scattered.<br \/>\n*spelt variously Slitt or Slit \u2013 Slitt seems to be the most frequently used<\/p>\n<p>A waterwheel pit for pumping out the mine, the great stone base where a hydraulic engine lifted buckets of lead ore from the workings, deadly little culverts you could fall into in a twinkling, and a washing floor on a promontory near the river, where little boys with heavy bucker hammers smashed rocks and sluiced the fragments to release the precious ore.<\/p>\n<p>We scrambled up a steep bank to a round reservoir, and stood there looking across the old mine to the hush or gash in the fellside where great torrents of water were released to tear away the turf and expose the vein of lead beneath. Mine tips lay above at the edge of the moor, a fleet of green whalebacks grown grassy with a nap as sleek as velvet.<\/p>\n<p>Today this is a scene as peaceful and lonely as can be \u2013 great sweeps of daleside, empty save for the dotted sheep, a couple of isolated farms, the ruin of a barn or two, all under an enormous sky.<\/p>\n<p>We found a stony lane that led up to the walled fellside track of Springsike Road, boggy with dark mud and patches of rush. Sheep called, the wind blew, hidden streams trickled. Everything seemed simplified and straightforward up here between the dale pastures and the moors.<\/p>\n<p>Wheatears flirted on the wall tops, their white rumps flashing as they flew away. Mountain pansies purple and white, wild thyme tussocks and autumn gentians grew by the way. A long walled bridleway brought us easily down into Weardale again and we sauntered back to Westgate beside the peaty River Wear, as clear and brown as molten toffee.<\/p>\n<p>Start: Hare &#038; Hounds, Westgate, Weardale DU3 1 RX (OS ref NY 908381).<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Bus 101 (Bishop Auckland)<br \/>\nRoad: Westgate is on A689 (Stanhope-Alston).<\/p>\n<p>Walk (6\u00bc miles, moderate hill walk, OS Explorer OL31): Left along A689; first right; in 200m, left (\u2018Slitt Wood\u2019). Follow path north beside Middlehope Burn. In \u00bd mile at Slitt Mine site (906392), left up bank by info boards to dam\/pool above (904392). Right around dam; at stile (904393) bear right on path with wall on left. In 250m cross stile (904396); in 300m, right over wall stile (905399). In 150m, left up rough rocky lane (904400). At top, right (901399) along Springsike Road walled lane. At road (893407), left uphill. In \u00bd mile road bends left (885405); in \u00bc mile, left (882401, fingerpost) along walled bridleway. In 1 mile at road, left (886387); in 150m, right (888387, fingerpost), half right down to drive. Right to road (886385); left; in 400m, right between house and shed (889382). Cross River Wear (888381). Left on Weardale Way for 1\u00bd miles; left across river (909380) into Westgate.<\/p>\n<p>Conditions: Springsike Road can be wet\/muddy<\/p>\n<p>Lunch: Hare &#038; Hounds, Westgate (01388-517212, <a href=\"http:\/\/hareandhoundswestgate.blogspot.com\">hareandhoundswestgate.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Accommodation: Westgate Manor, Westgate DL13 1JT (01388-517371, <a href=\"http:\/\/westgatemanor.co.uk\">westgatemanor.co.uk<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Info: Durham Dales Centre, Stanhope (01388-527650); <a href=\"http:\/\/thisisdurham.com\">thisisdurham.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/satmap.com\">satmap.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/ramblers.org.uk\">ramblers.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A strong cold breeze was blowing off the Durham moors down Weardale, and clouds jostled with blue sky on the skyline to north and south.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}