Kirk Merrington - Leasingthorne - Leeholme - Coundon - New Coundon - Middlestone Moor - Kirk Merrington

Alan Anderson

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A pleasant circular walk from the ancient lookout village of Kirk Merrington, passing through several former coalmining villages and travelling along a section of a popular railway walk.

The walk starts from the ancient hilltop village of Kirk Merrington, dominated by a church that has over the ages due to its location become a prominent local landmark. From here the route leaves its lofty perch and descends through fields to intersect Leasingthorne, an old mining village that 150 years ago was a vibrant community with a mine, brickworks, school, chapel and several streets of terraced houses, of which only one street has survived. The walk then rises barely discernibly along a lane, to pass through the adjoining villages of Leeholme and Coundon, where the route descends from the ridge through fields to intersect the Auckland Way Railway Path at the former Coundon Station in the busy little hamlet of New Coundon. The walk follows the popular railway path for 2.8 miles before rising very gradually along farm tracks to pass through Middlestone Moor on the outskirts of Spennymoor. The final section of the walk starts with a little lane-walking before an ascent through a short series of steep fields to arrive back into Kirk Merrington.

England - North England - Durham - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Food Shop, Great Views, Pub, Public Transport, Wildlife, Woodland

5/11/2014 - Andrew Spence

Point 2 walkers should be aware that the field has been cordoned off by a sort of cloth fence and one will need to navigate these to reach the stile. Please be aware of this and the fence might be electric but today 11th May 20104 it was not. Point 20 Walkers note that the Farmer has installed an electric fence to keep horses away from the part of the field you walk up. It is well away from the route you walk but I caught the fence by accident and suffered a small electric shock.