Darhur one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 75.00% of reviewers

Exiting the village is simple enough and reasonably well waymarked. It can get a bit boggy at times and the livestock varies.
When you reach the A66 there is a new housing development being built on the Darlington side and at present the footpath is just outside of the development boundary but there are plans for more houses yet which may disrupt the path.

Beyond the houses, Geneva woods is a well used patch of mainly coniferous woodland paralleling the railway. From there its a simple walk along residential streets to the railway station.

Please note, multiple stiles mean this isn't fully accessible and livestock means dogs should be on a lead.

Not much to add to the previous reviewers. I may be becoming immune to broken/difficult stiles I think. The path through the building site is difficult but passable.

Summary: a mainly rural route that threads a neat path into Darlington town centre avoiding most of the main roads. Two points of caution - crossing the A66 and traversing the construction site immediately north of it. The former is unlikely to improve, but hopefully the latter issue will be fixed when the new estate is complete.
Too many stiles to be suitable for those with wheels and the cautions above would make me nervous about taking pets or young children.

Full review:
I walked this route south to north and so started in the pretty village of Hurworth on Tees. The village has a couple of shops, a cafe, a pub and one the poshest restaurants in the North East of England at Rockcliffe Hall. I arrived in the village on another Slow Ways route, but there are regular buses from Darlington if you plan to travel on public transport.

The route starts at the Post Office opposite the King George V Fountain and Trough (pic 1) which was erected in 1911. 500m out of the village you bear left on to a track and then 500m further there is stile on the right to take you due north. In the second field, the route was unclear - pic 2 shows a spot in the hedge on the other side where the stile is. Head for that!

In late June most of the fields were uncut and progress was slow. The stiles (pic 3) were well built but had barbered wire running along one of the bars, so take care with pets and small children (previous mentioned some were broken, so I guess some have now been fixed). The final stile takes you down the embankment of the A66 (pic 4) - while it is only single carriageway, there is no obvious safe place to cross, so exercise caution and patience.

On the other side, a large housing estate is being built and the contractors have made it pretty hostile for walkers. The route follows the exact OS map paths but steel barriers (pic 5), deep muddy ruts and rubble make progress very tricky. The final section requires you to open a metal fence barrier to get out of the building area (pic 6). I have written to the council to complain and will update if and when they reply. One assumes this will get better as the footpath has not been rerouted and so the new paths and roads should make passage easier.

Although close to Darlington town centre, Geneva Wood nature reserve is a peaceful haven and has an easy follow footpath (pic 7). Then a short walk through quiet roads and a couple of paths brings you out by the railway. A very narrow bridge (pic 8) takes walkers and cars through alternately. That leads to a quiet street where the well signposted route at this point takes you right (pic 9) along old railways buildings and sidings. Those who know their railway history will see a few blasts from the past (pic 10). Then the grandeur of the station clock tower is clearly visible and you are at your destination (pic 11).

I enjoyed the walk on a rainy day. Having a route with so little road walking that get's to the town centre makes this a good choice of paths. On balance, perhaps because of some stiles being fixed, I feel it would be an OK route to include.

Leaving Darlington through Geneva Woods. Over stile following grassy path which had a massive windfall of apples. Tree across path but able to duck under. Building site temporary fences and earth works meant a plodge through mud by the riding centre to follow the footpath to Snipe Lane. A66 is a fast busy road to have to cross here. Walked through fields, one with inquisitive cattle in. There were stiles and two were broken necessitating climbs over farm gates. A new stile had barbed wire which could easily catch you as you climb over.
I would say the walk was nice. It ends at Hurworth Green. However, given the current building works (near Geneva Woods), the broken stiles & barbed wire, I could not recommend as a slow ways at this time.

Share your views about this route, give it a star rating, indicate whether it should be verified or not.

Include information that will be useful to others considering to walk or wheel it.

You can add up to 15 photos.