Woodland - Shotton Moor - Gaunless Lead Mill - Woodland

Alan Anderson

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A nice walk through the rolling countryside of the Upper Gaunless Valley in the triangle formed by West Auckland, Hamsterley Forest and Barnard Castle. The terrain is a mix of fields, lanes, roads and woods in an area with a proud history centred on coalmining and lead smelting.

Woodland is a one-street village almost a mile in length, sitting astride the main road running east to west on high ground that provides great panoramic views looking south to the Yorkshire Dales and west to the Cumbrian Hills.

After a little road-walking from Woodland the route takes to the fields to intersect Softley Farm. From here a surfaced lane, a road and an unsurfaced lane takes you to the picturesque valley of the River Gaunless. The walk then fords the shallow river and climbs out of the steep-sided valley to intersect a long, unsurfaced track. The track passes through Gibbsneese Plantation to emerge onto a metalled road at the remains of the old Gaunless Lead Smelting Mill lying alongside the River Gaunless. The route then climbs out of the valley through Cowclose Plantation to emerge into open fields. The remainder of the route is through grassy fields as the walk returns to Woodland.

England - North England - Durham - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Great Views, Industrial Archaeology, Moor, Pub, Public Transport, River, Wildlife, Woodland

2/18/2019 - Rachel Pascoe

Just did this walk today, and thought I'd just comment on waypoint 8- fording the river. Make sure to wear waterproof BOOTS. Thankfully we were wearing boots and gaitors as the stream/river was ankle deep and quite slippy. Easy enough but if you're wearing walking shoes you might get soggy feet! We did it in February.