Barnard Castle Ramblers – Walk Report

Wednesday 25th July - Barnard Castle

Oh no, not again!! This is our 4th walk in a row, in this so called summer, that we have been wet. The forecast was for rain overnight and then just cloudy. Unfortunately it seems they "got it wrong again". When 8 of us turned up at the Museum there wa s still a fine drizzle, with no sign of a let up. Anyway, off we set down Parsons Lonnen and then down the Demesnes to the river. This we crossed and did the steady climb up Y bank and through Startforth. We ignored the first 2 stiles and used a short stre tch of road before turning up the first of many fields on our way to Boldron. The wet grass meant that we soon had wet feet and soggy trouser bottoms. Thankfully a lot of work has been done on the Boldron paths, so the stiles are a lot easier and slabs hav e been placed across the worst of the ditches and boggy sections.

The seats near the quoits pitch in Boldron came in very useful for our late coffee stop. It turned out that most of the group had ne ver been to Boldron before. A slightly different route wa s taken across more wet fields to Boldron Well. There is a leaflet about this well which was restored with a lottery grant. The leaflet also has direction for a short walk from Boldron, using some of the route we were using. We had a quick photo stop befor e we headed once more towards Startforth. However, opposite Wise Hill farm we turned East to the road.

At this point thegroup were given options. the leaders explained that the route they intended using down Thorsgill was very wet, slippery and very diffi cult in places. Everyone said they were "up for the challenge", even one of our older ladies who hasn't walked with us for at least 2 years. Thankfully "we all made it" and it looked as though it was sunny when we got out of the woodland. Unfortunately thi s was just a myth as it was still drizzling. The short climb took us up to Egglestone Abbey where we had a late lunch stop. Everyone said what a nice location it was for lunch and it even faired up for us. "At last".

The final stretch took us across Abbey Bridge, then the riverside path past the sewerage works. We then climbed back to the top path across the Demesnes. Back at the Museum, 5 of us went into Cafe Bowes. We indulged in lashings of Tea, Scones and gorgeous Carrot Cake. This rounded off what had been quite a challenging short walk. We were all reluctant to leave and head for home. Finishing in a teashop or someones home seems to be a feature these days on our walks.

Joan Martin.