Rotary Ramble no. 5

Our gallant group assemble in Lanchester all poised and ready for the off !

"Let's start at the very beginning"

The loneliness of the long-distance walker

Master of all he surveys.

After an easy walk in sunny conditions we ended up at the Knitsley Farm Shop and Restaurant, where a fantastic meal was had by all - David sure knows how to pick them ! Another very successful and most enjoyable ramble. Gird your loins , or lions, or anything else that might need girding for the next exciting adventure, Durham Riverbanks in Winter {December}.

Thanks to Martin Leake for this report.

Footnote (from the editor - something of a railway nut!):

This ramble took these hardy souls along part of the trackbed of the old Lanchester Valley branch of the North Eastern Railway, linking Durham with Consett.  The railway was finally closed and the track lifted by the late 60s.  Durham County Council is to be congratulated for converting this and several other redundant railway lines into valuable walk ways.

The final approach to Knitsley (before the track bed has been lost to open-cast mining) is along a high embankment that used to be a wooden ("trestle") viaduct.  Early in the 20th century, rather than spend a lot of money repairing it, the North Eastern Railway converted it into an embankment by dumping thousands of tons of rubble through the track-bed.  For the record, here's a couple of photos:-

Before the conversion.

And during the conversion.