Hurnor one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I agree with the 2 previous reviewers. I walked in the direction of Hurworth to Northallerton. The farm one mile in (Low Hall Farm) takes you through a slurry filled yard , and on the day I walked, young cows. The signage throughout is poor and the closed bridge section mentioned in detail in review one is still in place.

There is significant road on this route and several sections are unsuitable for anyone on wheels.

An acceptable route if the above comments are taken onboard.

11 October 2023.

Please see previous review for details. This was a good route for me as a whole, though I'm assuming the closure mentioned by the previous reviewer is still in place. I didn't see any notices at all though. The obstacle course of a bridge was passable. I did a bit of hacking with my poles in places and did opt at one point to use a gap in the fence rather than the stile. Just before Hurworth you go hough a farm yard. I had to pledge through what I think was slurry - just when I was thinking my boots were clean.

I walked this route in the direction of Northallerton to Hurworth in the pouring rain in middle of June.

In summary, the route currently has a section that is officially closed but just about passable with care. I have emailed the council for an update on when it will be reopened. More than half of this route is on road, with two short sections being busy local main roads. The path closure and a route with a mile less road would be possible by going Danby Wiske to Birkby and then on to White House between Great Smeaton and East Crowton. Alternatively, a route that leaves Northallerton to Appleton Wiske and then following the river to Low Dinsdale would be possible. However, that would be close to 20 miles which is perhaps too long. On balance this route, once the path is officially reopened, is a good compromise of directness versus off road.

My review of the route
I travelled by train to Northallerton and the start at the old town hall (pic 1) was around 1/2 mile from the start. The Old Town hall is in the centre of town with cafes, pubs and shops in abundance.
The route starts south and goes through a shopping arcade (pic 2), a carpark and some narrow paths to reach a quiet lane that passes under and over various railway lines. This turns into a track and then meets a minor road. While the route follows the road at this point, the majority of the way to the busier B6271, has well managed grass verges wide enough to walk on (pic 3 & 4).
The B6271 was pretty busy but again much of the route has grass verges that can be safely walk on (pic 5). Take care just after pic 5 as you enter the village as there is sharp right hand bend that offers very poor visibility for drivers leaving the village towards you.

The route from the village is due north on a road signposted to Danby Wiske. The road is narrow but as I only saw 3 vehicles in 45mins it felt pretty safe (pic 6). The road is asphalt, pretty flat and offers no challenges navigationally as there are no roads that run off it.

Danby Wiske is a quiet village with a campsite (Church Holme Camping) and shop (pic 7) and the White Swan pub on the green. Leaving the village to north, the road turns in to farm track.
The path branches off just before you get to North Farm. However, there was very odd obstacle that looked like a style - 4ft drop - style combination (pic 8) which later in the day I found was broken bridge. Checking the council website afterwards, I discovered that the public right of way at this point was officially closed. (Madness that all the paperwork to close a right of way had been processed when a couple planks could have fixed it!). I did find a warning sign that the path was closed around two miles north of the bridge (pic 11).

The route then crosses field after field - sometimes following a farm track (pic 9), other times hacking through 4ft high grass or finding overgrown styles (pic 10). The route is barely used and it was easy to end up on the wrong side of a fence if you weren't reading the map carefully. The path as marked on the 1:25,000 map correctly shows which side the field boundary should be. Be careful just before Geraldine plantation as the wiggle in the route looks like it crosses river - it doesn't and there is no way through on the westside of the stream.

Just short of Stripe House, you leave the farm track cross the field, aiming just to right of the mobile phone mast just beyond the field boundary. Another short section of farm track followed by a left turn on to the road and you hit East Cowton (pic 12). Didn't see any shops on the route through the village, but Google says there is a shop, post office and pub off to the left when the route turns right.

The next section is two more miles on roads and country lanes. The section on the B1263 and A167 are safe as there are wide, cut verges, but it is very busy. Crossing over to the farm track beyond A167 needs patience.

The rest of the route is pretty much farm tracks until you reach the bridge over to Huworth (pic 13). Just one section outside Eryholme is on road, but it appeared very quiet when I was walking.
Low Hail Farm is a busy dairy farm and the path runs through the yard - the grumpy geese and barky sheepdog need to be navigated carefully! Then over the beautiful River Tees into Hurworth itself. The village is more Surrey than County Durham - the hidden gem is the Rockcliffe Hall luxury hotel created by the owner of the local club Middlesbrough, Steve Gibson. In fact, a short detour west from the end of the walk you will find the club's training ground.

The end of the route is at the monument opposite the post office (pic 14). There are regular buses into Darlington if you are not continuing on to DARHUR to walk to the town.

Some sections not suitable for those with wheels and I wouldn't to be walking young children on busy sections of road as the verge is narrow in some places.

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