The Grey Panthers

Explorer Map 305, - Bishop Auckland

A very gentle, but rewarding, walk.
There is plenty of available parking for cars (fee payable) at the Hardwick Hall Country Park, from where the walk starts. The walk can be extended by walking in the park itself.
The outward leg of the walk is along field footpaths to the village of Bishop Middleham, with the return leg to Sedgefield itself.
From Sedgefield, the walk crosses parkland to the Hardwick Hall Hotel, then continues on easy footpaths to return to the starting point.
There are no gradients, and all footpaths are clearly waymarked or finger posted. However, there is one section where the footpath passes through the main entrance of the Hardwick Hotel in Sedgefield which may prove to be slightly puzzling at first.

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 web site, - just use QUO!!

Start from the Hardwick Hall Country Park car park, - fee payable (NZ34419 28768).
Head Westwards along a track beside the car park, then turn right to join the field footpath, - entered through a kissing gate on your left
Continue Westwards at the edge of a field. When you come to a metal gate, turn right to follow the field footpath (waymarked) in a North / North Westerly direction.
When you come to the disused railway track, turn left then follow the very clear track to Bishop Middleham.
Continue along the track into the village itself, and turn right into Church Lane.
From Church Lane continue to the main road and turn right. At the top of the hill, a finger post directs you onto the footpath that heads in a South Easterly direction back to Sedgefield. The footpath is waymarked, but it may help to use a 1:25000 OS map to follow it.
When you reach the A177 main road, cross the road. Turn left along the footpath that runs beside the road, then follow the lane that heads East into Sedgefield village.
Follow the road South in the village until you come to the village green.
Here, there are benches near the church that you can use for a rest.
Now make for the Hardwick Hotel, and pass through the main entrance to find the footpath that crosses parkland to take you to the Hardwick Hall Hotel.
In the hotel grounds, take the right forking road that takes you to the hotel entrance.
Continue along the road leading to Low Hardwick and the Quad Bike race track.
Just before Low Hardwick take to footpath on your left to return to the path on which you first set out.