A Visit To The Railway Line

The Tees Railway Path is a delight for walkers and especially dog walkers (as long as they pick up the smelly stuff eh?) The walk from Romaldkirk to Middleton-in-Teesdale will be covered in A Walk Through Time leaflet. The video below is of a journey along the line taken from a Diesel Multiple Unit’s (DMU) front seats in 1963. Compare it to our slideshow below.

The Railway closed to the public at the behest of Mr Beeching on the 30th November 1964 and the track was finally lifted in May 1967. Never a heavily used line for passenger transport the original plan was to run the line all the way to Carlisle via Alston (What a journey that would have been!).  The line was opened in 1868 and is “celebrating” its 150th anniversary this year. Click here for a great account about the history of the line.

Here’s a description of the walk from Mickleton to Middleton-in Teesdale enjoyed by two local walkers, Denise and Dee and their four dogs:

A lovely autumn walk along part of the Tees Railway Path, from Mickleton to Middleton-in-Teesdale. The Tees Valley Railway was opened in 1868 and closed in 1964, it is now a lovely path which you can walk along in one go or in parts. Our walk shows how to do a short walk if you don’t want to walk back the way you came or have limited time.

We met in two cars at Middleton and parked at the central car park and then drove in one of the cars to Mickleton with 4 dogs (you could equally catch the bus to Mickelton and then walk up to the car park at the railway path or the other way). We then set off with four very happy dogs, Mac, sally, Billy and Jess.

The path is easy from the car park, with wonderful views of the surrounding country side. The Railway Path follows the old railway line that at the time was in Yorkshire (boundary changes now mean it is administered as part of Durham). The weather was mostly fair and we seemed to miss most of the rain, with rain in the distance we managed to catch some wonderful rainbows.

To follow the path to Middleton, once you have come to the end of the railway path, you have to cross over a stile, cross a small field, through a gate, then the road and over a second stile. You need to put dogs on a lead from here. The path is very easy to follow, with clear signs and easy stiles. Mac managed them so much better that the ones to Holwick, he was a happy dog.

We had to follow a field with cows in, but they were behind an electric wire and we ignored them and they ignored us, We then had to pass the lovely old farm and outbuildings of Step End farm, follow the path along by the side of the river and through a field (I remember as a little girl sitting in the field having a picnic here) to steps that lead up to the road ahead so you can cross the bridge back into Middleton for a well earned cup of coffee and biscuits for the dogs.

 If you used the bus you can either head back to your car or accommodation in Middleton, we had to drive back to Mickleton to pick up the other car then head for home.

It only took an hour to walk, so a nice leisurely easy walk, that could easily be done with children, but not with a pushchair or anyone who is unable to climb over a style. On a nice day light walking shoes should be enough, but when it’s wet or during the winter it would be advisable to wear something more substantial and waterproof.

My Thanks to Dee, Billy, Jess, Sally and Mac for accompanying me on the walk

Denise.