Durham Guided Walks Stuff for Summer 2013

I’ve spent a substantial part of this afternoon filing in a form with details and dates of all the walks I’m proposing to do for the Durham County Council guided walks programme for April to September 2013.

Phew.

I’m letting it simmer for a while before I can check it and send it off to the Council.

I’m aware that some guided walks customers and a few stewards too read the pie blog from time to time – mainly as some kind of penance, I suspect, but from this they’ll be able to judge the kind of delights we have in store.  And take appropriate avoiding action….

There will be  repeats of some of the old favourites, these being the Teesdale Fellwalking walk over Crosthwaite fell (in Teesdale!), The Hunstanworth Hobble including my only ascent of Neville’s Couloir on the beetling North face of Bolt’s Law. Ropes will not be used to allow for speed and grace. There’ll be a Wander along by the Elephant trees yet again. Walkers are requested not to feed the elephants this time and we’ll be repeating the Best of Teesdale walk which includes Low Force, High Force, Cronkley Fell, a bumpy walk by the Tees and Moking Hurth Caves and, optionally, and depending on whether or not the mudslide has been shovelled away, Gibson’s Cave too. This walk, though might form part of the North Pennines AONB Pennine Journey walking festival in which case it’ll be in early October.

We’ll be repeating the five circular walks which completes the Pennine Way in Durham on Sundays in July, August and September. This includes beer (or whatever) at Tan Hill and lots of sloppy bogs culminating in a climb up Cauldron Snout, or at least, up the path beside Cauldron Snout.

And there’s some new walks - one around the heathery moors above Bollihope, possibly with an ice cream van at the end and another in Baldersdale around Race Yate and the dry(er) side of the Battle Hill firing ranges.

All of the walks are graded as “Long and Hard” and range from ten to seventeen miles

On top of all this , I’m leading a walk for the North Pennines AONB for the Pennine Journey celebration walking festival from Tan Hill Inn to Balderhead reservoir – a linear walk of about 15 miles involving the provision of transport from the Balderhead car park to the start at Tan Hill. Unfortunately it will be too early for a pint of Black Sheep at the start.

The introductory pic is irrelevant by the way. I just liked it. The horse and goose (sounds like a pub) were seen on a recent walk reccy at Cowshill in Weardale.