Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beauty,
which stretches into Northumberland and Cumbria (p. 668) and has been
designated a UNESCO European Geopark for its outstanding geology. Don't miss
Teesdale
with its waterfalls—
High Force,
England's largest, drops 21m (70 ft). Also
notable is
Weardale,
once the hunting ground of Durham's prince bishops; the
Weardale Museum
(
&
01388/517433;
www.weardalemuseum.co.uk) in Iresho-
peburn has displays on local life and on Methodist John Wesley, who preached in the
adjoining chapel several times.
This is good walking territory: The
Pennine Way
(p. 535) crosses the area, and
there's the 90-mile
Teesdale Way
from Middlesborough in North Yorkshire across
County Durham (via Barnard Castle) and into Cumbria, and the 77-mile
Weardale
Way
along the River Wear from Roker on the coast near Newcastle. This latter takes
you to
Killhope, the
North of England Lead Mining Museum
(see below).
The market town of
Stanhope,
home to the Durham Dales Centre (p. 656) with
its award-winning tearoom and crafts shops, is the starting point for a scenic ride on
the heritage
Weardale Railway
(www.weardale-railway.org.uk) to Wolsingham. Or
head to
Hamsterley Forest
(www.forestry.gov.uk) with its walking, cycling, and
horse-riding routes, bike rental, visitor center, tearoom, and play park. Cyclists should
also note that Stanhope is on the
C2C Cycle Route
(Coast to Coast or Sea to Sea
national cycle route; www.c2c-guide.co.uk).
Travel 17 miles south of Stanhope to reach the town of
Barnard Castle,
named
after its extensive ruined Norman
fortress
(
&
01833/690909;
www.english-
heritage.co.uk). High on a rock with stunning views over the Tees gorge, Barnard Castle
has tactile gardens and a sensory garden with scented plants. Don't miss Richard III's
boar emblem carved above the inner ward. It's open April to September daily 10am to
6pm and October to March Thursday to Monday 10am to 4pm, with entry £4.20 for
adults, £2.10 for children. The town is also home to the
Bowes Museum
17
(
&
01833/690606;
www.bowesmuseum.org.uk), housing northern England's best
collection of European fine and decorative arts, including new Fashion & Textile and
Silver & Metals galleries, within a magnificent mansion. Trails, activity sacks, and
dressing-up areas make it accessible to kids. Open daily 10am to 5pm, the museum
costs £8 for adults, free for kids.
Six miles from Barnard Castle on the way back up to Durham, medieval
Raby
Castle
(
&
01833/660202;
www.rabycastle.com), surrounded by walled gardens
and parkland in which fallow and roe deer roam free, has interesting medieval,
Regency, and Victorian interiors containing European textiles and furniture from the
17th to the 20th centuries and artworks by Van Dyck, Reynolds, and others. Its
coachhouse holds a display of carriages. The park and garden is open 11am to 5:30pm
Sunday to Wednesday in May, June, and September; and Sunday to Friday in July and
August. The castle can be visited between 1 and 4:30pm. Tickets for the castle, park,
and gardens are £9.50 for adults, £4 for children 5 to 15.
The
Durham Heritage Coast
(www.durhamheritagecoast.org), despite being
ravaged by mining in the 20th century (as well as impoverished by mine closures in
the early 1990s), offers wild beaches, rugged cliffs, and imposing headlands blessed
with rare plants and wildlife, best explored via the coastal path. Focal points are the
Castle Eden Dene National Nature Reserve
(
&
0191/586-0004;
www.natural
england.org.uk), with 12 miles of footpaths through ancient woodlands, and the lively
harbor of Seaham, with one of the U.K.'s oldest churches and—unexpectedly—a
luxury hotel with a famous spa (see review for Seaham Hall & Serenity Spa, below).
