Piercebridge to Barnard Castle

We slept well at the George Hotel and weren't disturbed at all by the wedding party - and we woke to lots of hot water! (read yesterday's leg if you're wondering why this was so amazing). We again had a generous breakfast - smoked salmon and scrambled egg, followed by croissants - on the basis that we didn't know whether we'd be able to get any lunch (we didn't). It rained very heavily whilst we were eating breakfast, and there were a couple of showers during the day. However we were able to shelter on both occasions so we didn't need to don waterproofs at all. The path was again somewhat overgrown in places, and the bottom of our trousers got pretty wet from the undergrowth.

We left The George around 9.15am, crossed the bridge back to the northern bank of the river, and took a path heading west. We followed the river for a couple of miles then climbed up to the road (the A67). There was a good pavement and the road was not too busy, so walking alongside the road wasn't a particular problem. We took a minor road into the pretty village of Gainford where the church bells were announcing the morning service; we said hello to an elderly woman who was heading to Church.

After Gainford we returned to the main road, then we followed a path back down to the river. This brought us to a sulphurous spa fountain, a replica of the Victorian original which led to Gainford's development as a spa town. We climbed back to the A67 then returned to the river on a disused railway line..

Eventually we zig-zagged down to the river at Whorlton, and we stopped for a snack of fruit down by the river. There was a rock platform which we walked out onto and a few minutes later a man walked purposefully out onto the rocks and then paddled across to the other side of the river.

We passed some attractive waterfalls as we walked back to Whorlton Bridge but they were difficult to photograph because of the trees in the way. Whorlton Bridge was fun though; it is a suspension bridge built in 1831 after the original was destroyed in a flood before it was completed, just a year or two earlier. Only one vehicle is allowed on the bridge at once and it was interesting to watch some drivers whizz across the wooden slats, setting the bridge rocking, whilst others drove carefully across.

We reached a road and immediately turned off onto an attractive path through woodland. The River Tees, beneath us to the right, was passing through a narrow gorge and, when we could see it, the river was exciting to watch. However the trees were in full leaf which meant that we could not see a great deal of the river. However, completely by accident, we managed to stay close to the river (definitely the best route) rather than following the official route of the Teesdale Way which was higher up – as we discovered when we got to Abbey Bridge and had a scramble up to the official route and so to the road.

Before crossing the bridge, we walked a short distance along the approach road to Egglestone Abbey, so as to be able to photograph it. We then crossed Abbey Bridge and sat on a wall at its northern end to have a rest; traffic across the bridge is controlled by traffic lights and we watched cars coming and going for a while as well as talking to a couple of people who were on foot.

From the bridge, we took a path along the northern bank of the river, with views across to Egglestone Abbey. We continued on this path all the way to the outskirts of Barnard Castle.

We walked along roads to Barnard Castle’s road bridge, then climbed up a path by the castle and explored the town centre, primarily looking for places to eat this evening. Newgate House, where we were staying, is (unsurprisingly) on Newgate, a road leading up from Barnard Castle’s attractive Market Cross (aka the Butter Mart), and we were just standing outside the house when a car drove up and a man got out and said “you must be staying with us”; thus we were let into the house without having to ring the bell. His wife showed us to a beautiful room; we had opted for a room with a private bathroom rather than en suite and, as is often the case, this worked very well – we had a lovely big bedroom and a lovely big bathroom.