{"id":3481,"date":"2024-06-08T23:58:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-08T23:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phoenixwalks.xyz\/?p=3481"},"modified":"2024-06-09T00:10:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-09T00:10:03","slug":"31-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/phoenixwalks.xyz\/index.php\/2024\/06\/08\/31-05\/","title":{"rendered":"31\/05"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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31 – 05 – 24\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0MIDDLETON IN TEESDALE<\/strong><\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Distance 13.7 Km\u00a0 (8.5 miles)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ascent\u00a0 \u00a0195 m\u00a0 (640 ft)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Average moving speed\u00a0 3.86 Km\/hr\u00a0 (2.40 mph)\u00a0 \u00a0 Start\u00a0 10.41 am\u00a0 \u00a0Finish\u00a0 16.55pm<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the absence of Peter O’H, I agreed to lead the shorter walk (~7 mile) to Middleton in Teesdale.\u00a0 On a dry, but cloudy day, with little wind, eight of us left the coaches at Bowlees visitor centre – unfortunately at the wrong entrance.\u00a0 We walked up to the visitor centre and enjoyed coffee or tea and in some cases a\u00a0 toasted sandwich.\u00a0 I had planned a walk of just over 7 miles with the option for those that wanted it of an extra mile, to visit the Summerhill waterfall.\u00a0 In the event, 3 members of the group decided to wait in the cafe\/visitor centre while the rest of us headed down to the Bow Lee Beck, crossed the footbridge and proceeded N up the path towards the waterfall.\u00a0 \u00a0As anticipated from the recent rainfall, there was a good flow of water over the fall.\u00a0 We stayed a few minutes watching the fall, had a group photo and then made our way back to the visitor centre, stopping to admire a robin sitting watching us on the route back.\u00a0<\/p>

Joining up with the other three members of the group, we headed down to the main road and after crossing the road, took a path heading SW down to the River Tees and 1 by 1 crossed the footbridge as instructed on the notice.\u00a0 Surely we are not that heavy!!\u00a0 After the footbridge, we turned right and after a short distance\u00a0 arrived at Low Force.\u00a0 While Low Force is more like rapids rather than a waterfall, it was still impressive with a lot of water passing over.\u00a0 On our way again after the required photos, we headed in a general NW direction along the Pennine Way which runs along the south bank of the Tees.\u00a0 This was a good path with just an occasional rock which required some care.\u00a0 With the sun occasionally breaking through the cloud, there were some excellent views of the river, particularly in areas with meadow flowers on the river bank.\u00a0 \u00a0After a while, we heard the roar of the river thundering over High Force.\u00a0 We left the path for a path leading to the viewpoint and enjoyed a leisurely stop at the viewpoint enjoying the sight of England’s largest water volume waterfall.\u00a0 \u00a0As it was around lunchtime we carried on to the top of the falls, passed Heinrick’s group having their lunch and then found a spot a little further on where we could sit and enjoy our lunch.\u00a0 By this time it was quite sunny and warm.<\/p>

After lunch and a closer inspection of the top of the falls, we made our way back downstream to Low Force and then the bridge we had crossed earlier.\u00a0 \u00a0Continuing\u00a0 SE down the Pennine Way, the path remained good although it was no longer a gravel path and we maintained a comfortable pace as we headed towards Middleton.\u00a0 The river was much more placid at this point and appeared to be hardly flowing.\u00a0 Walking on a grassy path with flowering meadows to our right it was becoming very attractive.\u00a0 However, there was one downside – stiles.\u00a0 By the end of the walk, I reckon we must have climbed about 20 of them.\u00a0 The only other problem was a stream, Eel Beck I think, where there was no footbridge and we had to cross via three fairly large rocks.\u00a0 As we are ageing, such experiences are not ideal.\u00a0 \u00a0Eventually the Cattle Market came into sight and nearby on the B6277 were the 2 coaches.<\/p>

A very enjoyable walk with excellent scenery and a good group, most of whom I had not walked with before.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0Click on any photo to view full screen.\u00a0 \u00a0 Move through the gallery using the\u00a0 \u00a0<\u00a0 >\u00a0 arrows.<\/p>