Beamish Woodland Walk - 26th October 2008

Hello Everyone!

There were 2 Rangers out that day, Ken & myself (Peter the Storyteller). 5 others turned up for the walk. The day was windy with spots of rain, but mainly fine. The autumn woodland scenery wasn’t quite at it’s best, but very nice anyway. We tried to persuade a group of bikers to join us, but they preferred riding to walking.

The walk started from the Shepherd & Shepherdess pub at Beamish; the decorative figures on the wall of the building are made of Lead and are from the Napoleonic wars. They were originally in the grounds of Beamish Hall, along with several other statues, but one dark night, the lord of the manor tripped over a lead dog and promptly got rid of the lot! Some were said to have ended up in Roker Park.

Through the woods, looking at old quarries and waggonways. There is evidence that some footpaths have been surfaced in the distant past and some of the footpaths are terraced and must have been cut into the valley side to accommodate the waggonways. This area used to be a hive of industrial activity.

We passed close to the C2C Cycleway. This used to be the Washington to Consett railway and in latter years, only carried iron ore from Consett. It did once carry passengers but the last ‘passenger’ train was a charter just before the line finally closed. A royal visit to Consett by rail preceded that. The route was opened as the Stanhope & Tyne Railway and in its infancy, used every form of power known to man, except sail. An interesting situation was at Hownsgill, Consett, where the gill was crossed by lowering trucks down one side of the valley on a lift, crossing the valley floor and a using a second lift to get up the other side.

Near Urpeth Cottages, we discussed a murder. Milner Lockey married Elizabeth Wilson on 5th November 1859, at All Saints Church in Newcastle. The couple lived at Urpeth Colliery with 3 children of Elizabeth’s from an earlier marriage. In August 1860 a separation order was issued and Elizabeth moved with her children to a cottage at Urpeth Corn Mill. Thomas Bell lived at Urpeth Mill House and went bankrupt shortly after Elizabeth occupied her cottage. Thomas Harrison was the Bailiff who handled Bell’s effects and after disposing of things and whilst waiting for the harvest, he took lodgings with Elizabeth (who was probably grateful for the rent). Lockey, a very jealous man, accused his wife of having an affair with Harrison and one evening, burst into the cottage shouting accusations at his wife. Shortly, he produced a knife and stabbed Elizabeth in the thigh and then stabbed Harrison. Elizabeth’s son, Samuel, ran for help to the Ridings half a mile or so away and Elizabeth also limped off for help. By the time the police arrived, Harrison was dead and Lockey had disappeared. He was found hiding in a pig sty the next morning. He was convicted of wilful murder and was hanged on Thursday, 27th December 1860.
I showed the group an entrance to a drift mine. This is still open, but only a couple of feet high. It must have filled up over the years. (I wouldn’t have shown it if children had been present!)

Bypassing an old stone-surfaced road, which was too dangerous to take a party down, we descended down a steep flight of steps to the valley floor.
At the bottom of the path, on the banks of the Beamish Burn, is an old Paper Mill. This used to produce various types of high quality paper. Paper mill Cottage is across the Burn. There is much history to bee seen in the Beamish Burn Valley. The entrance to an old drift mine is clearly visible just upstream from the Paper Mill, whilst opposite, the remains of a mill race and various buildings can be seen. Coal and other minerals were mined here. Proceeding upstream, we could see the remains of other buildings and terracing on the valley side. An interesting location and a bit of a mystery, is one old building which appears to have had a rope bridge across the stream. It looks a though whatever the bridge carried would be pullied straight across the stream into a workshop. There are structures from the bridge (including some rather large bolts) on the sides of the stream.

We had a coffee break whist someone nipped back to retrieve a dropped camera.
After coffee, we walked on looking at lots of points of interest. Near the end of the wood, is an old stone-surfaced ford, if nothing else did, this proved that heavy traffic once passed this way. (I have a video of a friend dancing in the middle of this ford!)

We crossed the road (passing through a rucksack-unfriendly gateway) and followed the stream passing more ruins on the way, until the path deviated and followed a mill race to Flint Mill where we stopped for bait. Just before Flint Mill we had a good view of a Kingfisher flying by.
At Flint Mill, a willow structure has been created; this amazing creation takes the form of a series of footpaths under living Willow archways. Willow is a great survivor. If you stick a twig in the ground, it will probably take root and grow. In Holland, Willow spiling (rather like an English hazel hurdle) is used to reinforce riverbanks and the technique seems to be catching on here. From Flint Mill, the path passes Flint Mill Cottages and proceeds past Beamish Museum. Here we saw cleft Oak fencing, an old stagecoach and Pockerley Manor. Somewhere in the manor is an old fortified house which was here before Columbus discovered America.

Passing the Museum we turned onto the road at Hammer Square, and went up the (steep!) road back to the Shepherd & Shepherdess and the end of a very interesting and enjoyable walk.

The next walk in our programme is the:
Bridges Over the River Wear
on Sunday 21st September 2008
09:30am prompt at Roker Blockyard to catch bus up to Fatfield and walk back to the blockyard.
 
To book this walk ring 0191 5538787 (Sunderland Countryside Office)