Pennine Way - Bowes to Middleton-in-Teesdale (★★★★★)

I had not planned to be walking today - and instead had planned to be having some rest - but with a bad front of weather coming in next week, it seems best to be out sooner rather than later.

And so today I have brought forward my plans to tick off another section of the Pennine Way - walking from Bowes to Middleton-in-Teesdale - which for me is a fairly local affair.

Here I am making use of the regular bus service that runs between Darlington and Barnard Castle - and from Barnard Castle I can get a bus out to Bowes, and then a bus back from Middleton-in-Teesdale fairly easily.

These are not particularly regular bus services - and the bus to Bowes doesn't run on weekends or bank holidays - but the timings allow for a very comfortable walking pace, with ample time to spare ahead of the bus back.

And so it is that this morning I'm hoping off the train at Darlington, and heading down to the main bus stand to catch my onward bus. 

From here it is about a ten minute walk from the train station, and then it is a forty-five minute bus ride out to Barnard Castle on the reasonably busy 8:33 bus.

At Barnard Castle there is a twenty-and-a-bit minute wait to follow - but you shouldn't worry too much about any waiting here, as there are plenty of bakers, butchers (selling pies) and coffee shops - and this is an ideal spot to buy some food for the day.

And once the bus to Bowes does arrive, it turns out that I'm the only passenger - and it is a very quick ten minute ride to Bowes, where the bus driver drops me off at the turning point for the Pennine Way (when you are the only passenger, bus stops don't matter too much).

Here I briefly turn off to go have a look at the castle - and then turn back to begin my journey to Middleton-in-Teesdale along the Pennine Way.

Bowes Castle at the former site of Lavatris Roman Fort

It is strange to see such a well built castle in such a small country village - but here the geography of Bowes is important.

Bowes lies in a bit of a gap in the hills that extends from Penrith in the west, round to Darlington in the east - with this gap generally providing a buffer between both the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales on the southern side, and the North Pennines on the northern side.

Crossing the Dales or Pennines not only means heading over higher ground, but also across fairly boggy terrain - and so this gap has a strategic value - and this is not only still the route of the A66, but also used to be the route of the old train line between Darlington and Kirkby Stephen.

The old railway network extending out from the North East (if it had a valley it had a track)

Back in Roman times, the importance of this route meant that a wooden fort was built (at around 70 AD) - and this was intended as a waypoint on the road between Luguvalium (Carlisle) and Eboracum (York).

Roman Roads - Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

And if you follow the route of the A66 on an OS Map, you will notice that this modern road has been built over the top of the old Roman Road - with camps, forts and signaling stations to be found along path.

What we see today at Bowes is obviously not this original wooden fort (it is made of the wrong material for starters) - but over time the site continued to be upgraded, with stone walls being added in the 130s - and with the Roman fort continuing to be improved into the 4th century (with occupation from the 1st to 4th century).

But fortifications kept needing to be improved, and what stands today is a medieval castle that was built within the perimeter of the original Roman fort. 

As in Roman times, this started off as a timber fort - but with the stone castle that stands today having been built between 1170 and 1174.

This was during the reign of Henry II - and whilst he went on to become one of Britain's more powerful kings, he also had to restore royal authority throughout his reign. 

More specifically, 1173-74 were the years of the Great Revolt (when Henry had to deal with a revolt led by his three sons, his wife and their supporters - who included the opportunistic King William the Lion of Scotland).

During this period of revolt, William raided south - and in 1174 he besieged Bowes Castle - before being forced to retreat by the arrival of a relief force, led by Henry's illegitimate son Geoffery.

After this, the castle wouldn't see much more activity - and eventually fell into disuse - but for different geographic reasons, Bowes continued to retain importance well beyond it's minor village status.

Here in the Pennines we find ourselves in wild and empty countryside - with some, but limited, links to the outside world.

And this was of value to a collection of men (and I guess women) who decided to establish private boarding schools in the area.

Bowes was particularly notable for this practice - and hosted nine such boarding schools (a remarkable number for such a tiny village) - but it was Bowes Academy (which is the large building on the left that we pass on our way out of Bowes) that attracted the most attention.

A newspaper advert for Bowes Academy

This school hosted between 200 and 300 pupils - but what makes it so notable is it's link to a grave that can be found at St Gile's Church (the church by the castle), belonging to George Ashton Taylor - who "died suddenly at William Shaw's Academy of this place, April 13, 1823, aged 19 years".

And it was this grave that gave Charles Dickens inspiration for the character of Smike in his book Nicholas Nickleby - with Bowes Academy (that building on the left) being the main inspiration for Dotheboys Hall, and William Shaw (the schoolmaster) for Wackford Squeers.

These schools used to enable families to send away children that they no longer really wanted - to be brought up at relatively low cost, far away from home.

Other schools existed around Ripon and Richmond - but this area around Barnard Castle (and particularly at Bowes) was a hotspot.

Bowes Academy had primarily caught Dicken's attention due to a case brought earlier in 1823, on behalf of two pupils who alleged that misconduct had caused them to go blind

"One morning I could not write my copy, from the weakness of my eyes: I felt nothing the night before. Mr. Shaw said he would beat me if I did not write my copy. Next morning he sent me into the wash-house. There were other boys there; some quite blind. Mr. Shaw would not have us in his room. I was there a month. There were 18 boys at one time affected; some who were totally blind were sent into a room; I think two besides myself. In about a month I was removed to a private room, where there were nine totally blind."

"About Christmas, 1820, my eyes became ill, blood-shot: I could see a little; never quite lost the sight of either of them; they were very bad till I came home in March. I was not put into any room. I was in the school-room; we slept three besides my brother in bed. I had the itch all the time I was there; about 20 others had it, some for a long time. We used to rub in sulphur and butter at night. We were a great deal annoyed by fleas. My head was combed every Saturday: we were kept free from all vermin except fleas."

After the case was won - and damages were ordered to be paid - the academy continued to run - but with his interest piqued, Dickens planned to introduce themes around these schools into his next book.

With this in mind, Dickens took a trip to Barnard Castle - and contacted a local solicitor - explaining that he was acting on behalf of widow who wished to place her son in a Yorkshire school.

The school master, William Shaw, had been warned about Dickens, and did not let him in when he turned up to visit - but Dickens had sourced enough inspiration by this point to write his book, and within two months the first installment of Nicholas Nickleby was published.

The outcry that came up in response eventually turned people against these boarding schools - and within two years most of the schools in the area had closed.

And so over time Bowes returned to being a normal(ish) village - with the next site of interest coming soon after we cross over the A66, and continue on up a minor road.

The view back from the road

And again looking back but from higher up

Here our path takes us across the location of RAF Bowes Moor - and here we are strongly encouraged to stick to the path, to avoid being killed.

This is because RAF Bowes Moor was a chemical warfare agent storage site - run by the RAF during, and after, World War II. And whilst there should no longer be chemicals here, those that were here were either burned here on site, or dumped into the sea.

Among the chemicals storage at the site were mustard gas (causing blistering), phosgene (a lung irritant) and lewisite (another lung irritant) - with Bowes being used due to it's remote location, but handy rail link (with the railway at Bowes only closing in 1962).

An old train timetable

Whilst that train line would have been handy today (and for other trips to the Lakes or Dales), it is probably for the best that RAF Bowes Moor is now closed.

Stocks of mustard gas were found to have not actually been fully destroyed in 1997 (when the site was remarkably being prepared for sale to a private buyer), and for now it is probably best that the site is being left alone.

But with this behind us, we turn off the road, and cut across some fields - and here I have an escort of Lapwings, who keep noisily flying above my head, until I make it across to the far side (these will continue to pester me throughout the day).

After this, we head past some farm houses - and over Deepdale Beck - ready to start our next climb of the day.

Deepdale Beck

Here the path climbs up to Ladyfold Rigg, where it then skirts along the edge of an area used by the military as a Rifle Range (an area which can be walked on the footpaths when the range is not being used).

Here walkers have stumbled across the remains of a Valentine Mk III tank dating back to World War II - with very high levels of training going on in this area during the war - with locals apparently not having been huge fans of having to dodge tanks whilst they went about their business.

But this area has been used for military training for some time - with the busiest area being at Deepdale Wood, which sits further away (and just to the west of Barnard Castle) - with Deerbolt Camp having been operational up until 1972 (when the site closed and was replaced by Deerbolt Prison). 

Looking back from Ladyfold Rigg

Soon though, we start to bend away from the Rifle Range - and start heading towards Golsborough.

Walking towards Goldsborough

Here I pass the only other person I see out along the trail today (a cyclist). But Goldsborough is a notable site for being a host to some prehistoric rock art (in the form of carved out cups on rocks), plus a few other prehistoric items including a ring cairn.

That said, I could find no real information about why the mound is marked as Robin Hood's Hole on the map - and so to me that one remains a mystery.

But it is a nice, and prominent, hill, that we soon pass - before we start to look out towards a series of reservoirs below.

Far side of Goldsborough

Burners Hills (to the side)

Catty Crag Quarry (to the side)

View towards the reservoirs

Once the reservoirs come into view, we now have a short onward walk before we cross a minor road - and then start to make our way along the fields above the reservoirs, heading west.

A bird on the post on the minor road

Here there are three reservoirs that sit along what used to be the River Balder - which will in turn feed into the River Tees at Cotherstone.

These reservoirs were built in the 1960s to boost levels of water supply to Teesside - which had seen increased demand for water due to the growth of it's chemical industries - with Balderhead dam being at the time of completion, the highest earth dam in the British Isles (this is now Llyn Brianne Dam).

These days the reservoirs are owned by Northumbrian Water, and to be fair to them, the reservoirs sit quite nicely in the landscape.

Looking back towards the end of this run through the fields

After a bit more walking, we start to reach the end of Blackton Reservoir - and here we drop down to cross over what I guess is best called the River Balder, running briefly between Balderhead Reservoir on the left and Blackton Reservoir on the right.

Here we also slightly awkwardly meet up with the route of the Pennine Way. 

The original designers of the Pennine Way were at times an awkward bunch - who didn't really see any need to connect up with villages along the way in order to get food, source accommodation, or just to support local businesses.

And so the main route of the Pennine Way heads across the moors - whilst an alternate loop was offered to those that (a) wanted food, (b) wanted accommodation, or (c) didn't want to walk through bogs - and this loop bent round to pass through Bowes.

We have been using this alternate loop - and here we meet up with anyone who has been flagellating themselves across the worst of the boggy ground.

But in any case it is a nice route down to the reservoir, where there is a little Tuck Shop - where you just pay whatever seems right (at least that's how it seemed to me to work). And here the relaxed hospitality of this shop's provider earns them a £2 "donation" for a can of coke (as if you go out your way to be nice to me, I'll go out my way to be nice to you).

The Troll Bridge Tuck Shop - there were no Trolls FYI

When walking across empty terrain these tuck shops are enormously useful - as there really aren't many places to get supplies, or even fill up water bottles. And I'm always very grateful to anyone who goes to the effort of setting these up.

And having met up with the River Balder, I opt to have a bit of a rest here - mostly because it has such a lovely view.

The final descent to the river

Looking towards Balderhead Reservoir

Towards Blackton Reservoir

My resting spot

After having a lovely little rest in the sunshine, it is time to head on - continuing round the reservoir, before the path starts to head north.

The final stretch along the reservoir

Here we head up to what is apparently quite a famous farm house - although the reference is, before now, an unknown one to me.

The farm itself is Sleetburn Farm, where Hannah Hauxwell was born - and in 1973 she starred in a fourty-three minute documentary about here life in Teesdale - where she lived without electricity or running water. 

This documentary can be found on YouTube, and features the Bainbridge farm (it the one you pass after Cauldron Snout on the Pennine Way), this farm, the cattle auction in Middleton-in-Teesdale, and Lartington Hall at Lartington:

This documentary does feel like it was filmed a very long time ago - even if it has only been about fifty years - and things are a lot more pleasant out here today.

The view down the valley from the gate where Hannah would collect her groceries

And from here we have a short trip across to the next set of reservoirs - crossing what is fairly boggy ground despite it having been pretty dry of late.

Crossing the ground between reservoirs

Selset Reservoir in the distance

These reservoirs sit on the River Lune - and were again built in the 1960s in order to boost water supplies to Teesside.

And here we turn to head towards Grassholme Reservoir - which we will cross via a bridge - and along the way I find plenty of sheep who seem pretty unused to people walking through their fields.

So much so that at one style I have to wait for the sheep to clear out from their sleeping positions (directly underneath the style) - as I figure they won't be too impressed with me if I just step over them as they have a snooze.

At first they lazily look up at me, as I look down upon them, but after begrudgingly getting up from their sleeping positions, panic eventually ensues (as I walk away across the rest of the field). Here it would seem that these sheep are not geniuses.

Soon though, Grassholme Reservoir comes into view - with a lovely bridge waiting for us to cross it.

Grassholme Reservoir

Our bridge

From the bridge we continue on up to Grassholme Farm, and then turn up a farm track that takes us up onto the ridge beyond.

From here the climbing continues, as we pass up through Lunedale - and up to just shy of Harter Fell, which splits the Lune and Tees valleys.

Looking back whilst heading through Lunedale

Now starting to run along the ridge

View out towards Grassholme Reservoir

Eventually we round the edge of the ridge, and from here we are looking out over the Tees valley - and out towards Middleton-in-Teesdale.

Here the path slowly heads down until we finally meet up with the road that will take us on into the village.

Looking down at Middleton-in-Teesdale

Up close

Once on the road, we don't have much further to go - and just before we reach the river we pass the turn off for the Pennine Way on it's onward journey towards Low Force and High Force. And here we also pass the cattle market from that earlier documentary film. 

But here we continue on and head over the Tees - before continuing into the centre - from which we will catch a bus to Barnard Castle, get a new bus to Darlington, and then head home by train.

River Tees

Here, the village of Middleton-in-Teesdale is both pretty and remarkably busy (I have only passed one other person on the whole walk from Bowes after all). 

To me it feels more like a town you visit for a coffee on a day out, than a hiking or farming town - but there is certainly plenty of walking to be done from here - but in a way it is nice to be heading on and away from this currently very busy village.

Total Distance: 11.8 miles (11.5 miles on the Pennine Way)

Total Ascent: 1,542 feet (1,491 feet on the Pennine Way)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Click to read a writeup of the next section of the Pennine Way from Middleton-in-Teesdale to Dufton.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 92 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Pennine Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is well way-marked.