The Grey Panthers
22 August, - Baldersdale & Goldsborough


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8.91 miles

Explorer Map OL31, - North Pennines (Teesdale and Weardale)

Choose a day with good visibility and you will be rewarded with some superb views.
The scenery is a mixture of the remote farms on the shores of the rservoirs in Baldersdale, the reesrvoirs themselves, and the omni-present Goldsborough Hill.
The paths are easy to follow, and present little difficulty. In one spot, at the Western end of the Hury Reservoir, there is a steep descent. Also, on the final leg there is a steep descent down to the How Beck. But these descents are easily manageable by a fit person.
Cotherstone Moor, under Goldsborough Hill, can be a bit bleak and a knowledge of map reading is fairly essential for this section of the walk.


Memory Map
For a Memory Map overlay of the walk described, please select the above link.
(Overlay made with Version 5 of Memory Map)

Some new mapping software is now available which you may want to try, - QUO mapping. You can download the software for free from the link below, complete with demonstration maps. Having installed QUO, you can import and export Memory Map overlays. Thus YOU DON'T NEED Memory Map to use any of the overlays provided on the Grey Panthers website, - just use QUO!!

Quo logo



Start Point : The car park at the South Eastern end of the Hury Reservoir (NY96626 19246).
Cross the dam at the Eastern end of the reservoir. At the Northern end, turn left through the field gate and follow the shore path along the North shore of the Reservoir.
Follow the path ALL the way round the North shore of the Hury Reservoir.
When you reach the small reservoir with no name, follow the path upwards and through a wall at the Eastern end of the Blackton Reservoir.
Continue Westwards on field footpaths to Birk Hatt Farm.
Here turn right and walk a short distance Northwards on the Pennine Way to visit Hannah's Meadows.
Retrace your steps, and continue on the Pennine Way to Blackton Bridge.
Just past the bridge turn right along a track, through the yard of a hostel, and onwards to the Balderhead Resrvoir.
Retrace yoiur steps to the Pennine Way again.
Just after the Pennine Way crosses a small beck, take the signposted Pennine Way footpath to East Friar House Farm.
There are plenty of waymarks to help keep you on course.
At East Friar House Farm, turn sharp right and take the farm track to the minor road.
Here turn left and after a short distance take the footpath that crosses Cotherstone Moor under Goldsborough Hill.
A short detour enable you to climb the hill.
Continue along the footpath until you reach a footbrige that crosses the How Beck. Cross the beck and continue for about 100 yards. Where there is a marker post, turn sharp left and follow the faint footpath to the field wall where there are Military warning signs.
Continue on the footpath in a North Easterly direction, until, on your left, there is a small stile (with a waymark) that indicates the footpath down to the How Beck.
Cross the How Beck, and then take the footpath North to West Briscoe Farm and the Hury Reservoir car park.