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Wolsingham Walk

4.16 miles (6.7 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap This walk takes you along the Weardale Way from Wolsingham to nearby Frosterley.
On the way there's nice views of the River Wear and the surrounding countryside.
The walk starts on Wolsingham Bridge where you can pick up the waymarked footpath and follow it west. It's just over 4 miles on a gradually ascending path. At White Kirkley you'll leave the Weardale Way and follow another public footpath north into Frosterley. This section passes waterfalls, ponds and a number of quarries. The walk could be extended by continuing along the waymarked path into Stanhope.
Tunstall Reservoir lies just to the north of the town. You could follow a public footpath heading north from the town along the Waskerley Beck. This will take you to the reservoir where there's a nice circular walk to follow around the water. The Waskerley Way also passes the reservoir. This waymarked cycling and walking trail follows the route of the old Stanhope and Tyne Railway line, visiting Waskerley Reservoir and Smiddy Shaw Reservoir.

Wolsingham OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Wolsingham Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Walks near Wolsingham

  • Tunstall Reservoir - Follow the footpath around this pretty reservoir and nature reserve near Wolsingham in Country Durham.
  • Weardale Way - Follow the River Wear from the coast at Sunderland to Killhope Lead Mining Museum in the Pennines
  • Waskerley Way - This is a shared cycling and walking path that follows the route of the old Stanhope and Tyne Railway line
  • Stanhope - This small market town is located in County Durham on the River Wear
  • Pow Hill Country Park and Derwent Reservoir - This walk explores Pow Hill Country Park and the expansive Derwent Reservoir in County Durham
  • Hamsterley Forest - Hamsterley Forest is a great place for exciting mountain bike trails, leisurely family cycle rides or peaceful woodland walking.
    There are three colour coded, way-marked mountain bike trails in the forest
  • Frosterley - This County Durham based village has lots of nice waterside trails along the River Wear and the Bollihope Burn which run through the area
  • Allensford Country Park - Enjoy riverside woodland walks and magnificent views of the Derwent Valley in this country park near Consett
  • Smiddy Shaw Reservoir - This walk visits Smiddy Shaw Reservoir on Muggleswick Common near Consett in County Durham.

Pubs/Cafes

There's a number of good options in Wolsingham for refreshments . The Black Bull is located on the Market Place and does good food at reasonable prices. Outside there's a south facing garden area for finer days. They also have a few decent rooms if you need to stay over. You can find the inn at a postcode of DL13 3AB for your sat navs. The pub is also dog friendly if you have your canine friend with you.

Dog Walking

The river and country trails make for a fine dog walk. The Black Bull mentioned above is also dog friendly.

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

Take a ride on the splendid Weardale Railway and enjoy some lovely scenery on the historic heritage railway.
Just to the south of the village there's some excellent walking paths and mountain bike trails in the expansive Hamsterley Forest.
For more walking ideas in the area see the North Pennines Walks page.

Photos

Wolsingham Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1586179

Wolsingham Bridge. This was built in 1901 to replace the previous arched bridge, itself a replacement for a medieval bridge destroyed by floods in 1777. The town sits at the confluence of the River Wear and Waskerley Beck.

Wolsingham - geograph.org.uk - 1581010

Wolsingham

River Wear between Frosterley and Wolsingham - geograph.org.uk - 234577

River Wear between Frosterley and Wolsingham

River Wear, Frosterley - geograph.org.uk - 1270710

River Wear, Frosterley. The stone work structure is the abutment of the 'fly bridge' which took a branch railway line from a junction in Frosterley Station yard to the Bishopley and North Bishopley quarries on the south side of the river

Front Street, Wolsingham - geograph.org.uk - 2584974

Stone cottages on Front Street, Wolsingham

Ford at Wolsingham - geograph.org.uk - 4389616

Ford at Wolsingham

Market Place, Wolsingham - geograph.org.uk - 2585090

Market Place, Wolsingham

The Black Bull Pub, Wolsingham - geograph.org.uk - 614671

The Black Bull Pub

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Wolsingham.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Wolsingham.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)