Author Topic: North Pennines - Slit wood and Rookhope  (Read 4633 times)

mike knipe

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North Pennines - Slit wood and Rookhope
« on: 21:38:25, 02/02/08 »
TV pictures of people being rescued from the A66 put me off crossing the Pennines, so me and the dawg decided that the snows of Weardale would have to do.
This is a walk Ive done a few times before, and it has some advantages in that it has a pub in the middle which lets me and my dog in.
I started at Westgate, well up Weardale on the Alston road and walked through Slit Wood. Slit wood is in a narrow limestone gorge with a few small waterfalls and quite a bit of lead mining archeology. Its name probably comes from the Slit Vein, which is a mineral rich intrusion which runs for about 12 miles on the North side of Weardale and which intersects with the Slit Wood gorge at one point - easily identified by the shafts and culverts and the deep gash where they've dug out the vein.
We had one slight problem with a fallen birch tree blocking the path, and I've reported this to the County Council on their website.
Higher up the valley, there's a rather nice wild camping spot in a flat area, then a lane connects the valley with the rough pastures of the hill land
After Slit Wood, we took to the moors and crossed the watershed through some quite deep snow in places and through a small, private nature reserve to Rookhope (where the pub is...). They've blocked up the moorland drains on the nature reserve, so its usually quite soggy, so today was a good day to cross it because everything was frozen solid.
After a brief stop in Rookhope, we followed the Weardale Way for a bit, which is on an old railway trackbed at this point,  and then over Cuthberts Hill back to Westgate.
There's quite a bit of snow about, some nice drifts and at least one lonely snowman. The snow has blown off the most exposed parts, though, leaving just a thin, frozen layer which is good for walking on. A bit chilly, though...
8 and a bit miles and 1400 feet of uphill...
« Last Edit: 11:32:18, 08/03/08 by mike knipe »
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles

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