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Ralph Cox•Follow
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September 20, 2022

Corner to Corner, Day 51: Trimdon to Easingwold

https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk An early start would help for our 60+ mile days, and I didn't shorten this day after shortening the last 2. Missed early unsigned right turn out of Trimdom onto NCN Route 1 Castle Eden Walkway, necessitating an extra 2.29 miles over the 1.49 it would have been. When reached it, it was preceded by short overgrown section. But for Lorraine recommending exploring further, we would have missed 10.1 miles of cycleway. If go into the Stockton-on-Tees city, change route to follow the ex-rail route to its end by the Stockton and Darlington boundary stone, rather than follow Route 1 into glass-covered areas and busy-ness of the centre. Or miss out the city and continue south on the Stockton South Greenway to Eaglescliffe. To remove some Stockton-on-Tees sections to shorten day, e.g. Middlesbrough: lots of glass and less interest. Why in Scotland: little glass, tidy roads contrasting with England? Even on the bridge over The Parkway, 4.5 miles south of Middlesbrough. Re-routed again for 4.6 miles including 2 miles down very busy A19 when, in Foxton, Foxton Lane petered out to rough ground for 1-1.5 miles before re-joining public roads at Smithys Farm on the road from Jeater Houses to Northallerton. Lorraine was braver than me; I elected that we turn off at JH to re-join our planned route. To check whole Corner to Corner for paved or cycleway. Belted the last 20 miles to get to hotel for 20.00 birthday supper reservation. I had not questioned why Lorraine was offering a birthday supper the day before. I had no idea she's been planning with our Warmshowers' hosts for the following night! Another day when rain threatened and stopped when gear put on! An upper arm of Lorraine's pannier broke before Stockton-on-Tees, requiring time for temporary repair.
Distance
69.3 mi
Elev Gain
2,608 ft
Time
6h 52m
Every cyclist needs a Lorraine. Having not seen the 4ft gap in fencing with a stile by bushes immediately left of a field, 200 yards before the B1280 and no signs out of Trimdon on Wingate Road, - visible in Google Maps' Streetview <. https://www.google.com/maps/@54.7133372,-1.3689304,3a,75y,147.09h,77.83t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFi9sxC9KYiENbJj1JV4w_A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 >, we cycled 3.57 miles to the next possibility of joining it, only to find a narrow overgrown gap. Lorraine urged me to go further up to the bridge, and there was "hallowed ground"! We joined the route at Hurworth Burn.
"Hallowed ground": With the OS Maps subscription I now have (Dec 2022), I see that the former railway line path is continuous from Ryhope to Stockton. From this point south, it is called the Castle Eden Walkway: https://www.teesvalleylocalaccessforum.co.uk/castle-eden-walkway.html
This sign has the Hurworth Burn Way as being 4.7 miles long from Station Town to just north of the A689; various bodies differ in their perspective of the location and length of HBW and Castle Eden Walkway (CEW) – see this photo in the Google Photo album for more on this. Hurworth Burn Way is part of CEW, itself part of NCN Route 1, from the A181 in Wellfield, Wingate (west of Castle Eden) to a little north of Thorpe Thewles. Measuring in Komoot the length of CEW according to OS Map and Open Street Map links on the GPS Cycle and Walkway Routes webpage, (rather than only the CEW length according to Komoot), it is 10.1 miles long. OS Maps, searched separately, only has the CEW starting no further north than Station Town. The next photo shows the Hurworth Burn Railway Path consisting of the Hurworth Burn Way and part of the Castle Eden Walkway. Confused yet! All these are parts of the former railway from Ryhope to Stockton, and appear to have been developed and perhaps maintained by separate organisations, which could account for the plethora of names.
This Durham County Council information board about the Hurworth Burn Railway Path (HBRP), which is very useful, particularly as I have retrieved nothing about this title on the web, though there is info about the Castle Eden Walkway. The HBRP takes in parts of the Hurworth Burn Way and of the Castle Eden Walkway over the A689. Note the title of Millennium Cycleway Bridge given to the bridge over the A689. Only found this title on this info board. As you will see with the next photo, the bridge has other assigned titles.
The County Durham Gateway Bridge, opened by PM Tony Blair in Sept 2001, it being in his Sedgefield constituency. History: http://www.lunemillenniumbridge.info/pages/Teesside/Stockton.html Photos: https://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/list.php?title=County+Durham+Gateway+Bridge&gridref=NZ4028 Also called Millennium Cycleway Bridge on Durham County Council's info board on the Hurworth Burn Railway Path and Castle Eden Walkway Bridge in that walkway's guides and in Wikimedia Commons, and County Gates Bridge in a separate Geography photo < https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/167321 >
Highlighting the route we missed - down the Castle Eden Walkway, or Hurworth Burn Way!
Thorpe Thewles railway station history: http://www.thorpe-thewles.org.uk/Thorpe%20Thewles%20Station.htm Now the location for Wynyard Country Park visitor centre. Whilst this is pretty, we should have turned left, keeping on NCN Route 1, before the station.
Steve, whom I met here and who kindly donated to Haven House, said the cycleway extended north to Haswell. It goes (with some breaks for crossing roads), from Ryhope to Stockton then to Eaglecliffe. Our intended route was Ryhope to Wingate via the route Steve suggested, but after the poor surface quality north of Haswell and the on-coming darkness last night, I elected that we continue from Haswell by road.
1887 St James church, Thorpe Thewles. Designed in the style of a 13th century church! Built on the site of a previous church. http://www.thorpe-thewles.org.uk/Thorpe%20Thewles%20Church.htm
Took this photo to read the contents later. This webpage is about the Grindon (parish) Medieval Coped Grave Cover: http://www.thorpe-thewles.org.uk/Grindon%20Medieval%20Coped%20Grave%20Cover.htm
NCN Route 1 turned left before Thorpe Thewles station – see online OS 1:25K or aerial map with NCN overlay. We continued on past the station and followed a route to the right, through the village, before joining a road back to Route 1. This view is just past a log across the route shown in Google Maps' Streetview. Our route would turn left shortly after, perhaps at the distant trees and bushes. NCN Route 1 follows dirt tracks at times, e.g. where former rail routes cross roads and near re-purposed land. This spot is 1.29 miles before decent urban cycle path into Stockton-on-Tees.
I have retrieved nothing about the title or history of this bridge. It appears in a 2010 photo by Philip Barker - https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NZ4022 - being one of three out of 10 depicting parts of NCN Route 1 in the Thorpe Thewles area.
Photo taken 6 mins/0.76 mile after the bridge. Rather than follow Route 1 with repeated swathes of broken glass in the Stockton-on-Tees council area which stretched almost to Middleton-on-Leven on our route, we should have continued on this path (looks fine in Google Maps' Streetview), till its end by the Stockton-Darlington Railway 1821/25 boundary stone on Darlington Road. We could have continued further south straight over that road, using the Stockton South Greenway to Eaglescliffe, 5.24 miles from Maltby on the original route, bypassing Middlesbrough removing 12.6 miles.
Durham University's Queens Campus purpose-built buildings - on the right. I had routed along the path on the south side of River Tees for architectural interest. Teesquay Millennium Footbridge in the distance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teesquay_Millennium_Footbridge
Infinity Bridge opened 2009. This website's photo shows its splendour: https://expedition.uk.com/project/infinity-bridge/ & as do photos in Wikipedia's entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Bridge
Mike in San Seb Coffee's 1958 Citroen van. San Seb's coffee is from Rounton Coffee Roasters and the special on the day we enjoyed his beverages was from Ethiopia - see their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sansebcoffee/?locale=en_GB We would cycle through Rounton later.
Airtrail was on the opposite bank from San Seb Coffee. The website for this rope adventure facility has descriptive photos of the location and bridges in the area. https://www.teesactive.co.uk/air-trail-high-ropes/#air-trail
Tees Barrage, from the north bank. San Seb Coffee is on the south side. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tees_Barrage
Tees Barrage from the south bank
Looking down river from our route, the South Tees Cycleway: Tees Newport Bridge, opened 1934. Was a vertical lifting bridge; now permanently down carrying the A1032 over River Tees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tees_Newport_Bridge The next photo is looking up river from the same spot.
Looking up river from the South Tees Cycleway, back to the Tees Viaduct, opened 1975, which carries the A19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tees_Viaduct
Teeside University, Middlesbrough
0:03
9 kudos
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