Walks in Upper Teesdale & Swaledale

10/01/2026

Looking for a varied short walk with great views. Snaisgill and Hudeshope Woods from Beck Road is a 2 1/2 mile route which is a good walk at any time of year. Want something a bit longer ? Add is Aukside for a 4 mile walk. Of course for a few more yards you can easily start from Middleton.

03/01/2026

Scorton Lakes Walks. Never heard of Scorton Lakes. Lying just off the A1, this little gem has the Coast-to Coast path running through its southern tip. It's a great stopping off point for a relatively short walk - although the 9km of well-maintained paths means that you can wander for a long time. Popular with runners, walkers and dogs (!) there are a series of old gravel pits which have been developed into lakes and nature reserves and now have an abundance of wildlife. https://www.facebook.com/groups/532756825362642
Sadly developers have proposed yet another holiday home complex - this one of 171 luxury houses and 155 retirement apartments all with their own vehicular access ! If you are in the area it is well worth visiting this beautiful site for a walk whilst you still can.
https://www.scortonlakes.org

01/01/2026

Twelve days of Christmas in the North Pennines.

On the eighth day … eight maids a-milking

The wildflower cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis), also known as milkmaids or lady's smock, is a common sight in meadows, damp grasslands, and alongside riverbanks and streams in the North Pennines.

A perennial herbaceous plant which flowers early in the year, it is the foodplant of orange tip butterflies.

29/12/2025

And most importantly, enjoy it!🐕‍🦺😊

29/12/2025

29/12/2025

Twelve days of Christmas in the North Pennines.

On the fourth day … four calling birds

In the original song it was colly birds, which are blackbirds (colly being a regional English expression for coal-black). Here in the North Pennines, we have ring ouzel, closely related to blackbirds but slightly smaller and slimmer than a blackbird.

The Ring Ouzel is mostly an upland bird and breeds in steep sided-valleys and gullies. Nests are located in crevices or close to the ground in vegetation (typically in heather) and the young are mainly fed earthworms and beetles.

Males have distinctive black plumage with a pale wing panel and striking white breast band.

27/12/2025

Looking for a New Year walk to work off some of that Christmas over-eating ? This Rookhope to Blanchland circular is a great walk at any time of year : attractive moorland, historical interest, a woodland path, a climb up to Bolt's Law and two interesting villages - each with its own pub and shop.

27/12/2025

22/12/2025

A very wet Friday walk up Sleigill and over Low Booze Moor. Sleigill, with its ancient mining remains was a major source of the Arkengarthdale flooding of 2019 (https://uwfs.org.uk/slei-gill-and-the-floods/) and much of the evidence remains. Sadly nothing seems to have been done in Sleigill to prevent a similar problem in the future. Be aware that the path has been diverted in part of the upper stretch of the valley, but signage is very unclear and of course maps do not show the change.
Good news : the bridge restoration work over Foregill by Arkle Town is finally completed now and the road has returned to its original course. Bad news; road works from Reeth to Stang Lane start on 5rth January for 6 weeks.