{"id":4669,"date":"2024-12-11T01:02:56","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T01:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phoenixwalks.xyz\/?p=4669"},"modified":"2024-12-11T11:26:16","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T11:26:16","slug":"241128","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/phoenixwalks.xyz\/index.php\/2024\/12\/11\/241128\/","title":{"rendered":"241128"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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28 – 11 – 24\u00a0 \u00a0 WHITTONSTALL<\/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 17 Km\u00a0 (10.6 miles)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ascent\u00a0 \u00a0288 m\u00a0 (945 ft)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Average moving speed\u00a0 3.93 Km\/hr\u00a0 (2.44 mph)\u00a0 \u00a0 Start\u00a0 10.01 am\u00a0 \u00a0Finish\u00a0 16.00 pm<\/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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Planning a walk to Whittonstall without involving significant ascent is not easy as it is at the top of the hill.\u00a0 However I did manage to produce a walk with significantly less ascent than the other leaders.\u00a0 Consequently our walk started at the top of the hill in Whittonstall.\u00a0 On a very cold frosty morning, which fortunately was windless, nine of us headed SE down the B6309 before taking a minor road, then a track heading in a NE direction.\u00a0 This brought us to Wood house, a disused building with windows boarded up.\u00a0 However there were places around the building where we could sit, so once again we sat in the sun enjoying our morning coffee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

On our way again, we headed down a footpath in a northerly direction into the woods.\u00a0 We then came to\u00a0 a T junction at which point we turned right and headed past Hoodsclose although I couldn’t see any buildings.\u00a0 The path then continued in an ESE direction although at times it was difficult to follow.\u00a0 As the descent steepened, we crossed a stream and then came to a minor road (Lead Lane).\u00a0 After crossing the road the path was narrowed by a fence on the LHS with warning notices and shrubs on the RHS.\u00a0 As we headed in a general SE direction, although the path twisted and turned, the valley became steeper although still wooded.\u00a0 After what seemed like an age, we arrived at the River Derwent.<\/p>

After heading under the road bridge we took a minor road past some houses to then rejoin the B6309 westwards.\u00a0 After a bit of a climb, we took a left turn from the B6309 onto Fine Lane.\u00a0 After a short distance, we took a track going slightly to the left, past Haugh Farm.\u00a0 This led us into\u00a0 a wood with the Small Burn flowing through the bottom of a fairly deep valley.\u00a0 Dropping down to the stream we crossed a stone bridge with a deep gully below it.\u00a0 Climbing out of the valley, we crossed some fields before descending to another valley.\u00a0 The Mere Burn was running through this valley and after crossing the burn we climbed out of the valley and along a track heading west through a wood.\u00a0 To say that this was difficult walking is an understatement.\u00a0 My expectation of frozen paths was completely wrong as many parts of the track\/path consisted of slimy mud and water.\u00a0 Reaching Mereburn bridge at the end of this 0.75 Km slog, we found some felled tree trunks which made useful seats, so this became our lunch stop.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Decision time – my planned route took us across the adjacent minor road and onto another track through another wood.\u00a0 However, the road took us to the same point and was slightly shorter an important factor as we were about 15 min behind the clock due to the difficult walking.\u00a0 The group agreed with my suggestion that we take the road, particularly as we had only seen 1 vehicle during our 20+ min lunch stop.<\/p>

So off we went, heading SW down Fine Lane until we reached Pike Hill.\u00a0 Crossing Pike Hill, we headed W to Shotleyfield along another very quiet road.\u00a0 An advantage of this road was that there were few trees so we had good clear views across to the Derwent Valley and Shotley Bridge.\u00a0 Shotleyfield was just a small hamlet but it contained some nice looking houses.\u00a0 From Shotleyfield we headed NW on the road before turning right to head NE to Newlandsgrange Plantation.\u00a0 Opposite the plantation we crossed a stile to head E across a planted field to Newlands Grange.\u00a0 Suffice to say that there was no path following this RoW.\u00a0 From Newlands Grange, we zig-zagged N along RoWs, mainly along the edges of fields which had been ploughed\/cultivated up to the edge of the field.\u00a0 Consequently by the time we reached Whittonstall Sproats our boots were thick of mud and the walking was quite heavy.\u00a0 The condition of the RoWs and some of the stiles, makes me think the owner of (probably) Newlands Grange) was no fan of walkers.\u00a0 From Whittonstall Sproats we continued on the minor road into Whittonstall, we had had enough of difficult muddy paths.<\/p>

An interesting walk but in my opinion, while some of the views were good, not the best area for walking.\u00a0 Perhaps more ascent may have given better walking conditions!!<\/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>