The Way follows principally the meandering line of the Wear River either from its mouth at Sunderland to close to it’s source in the North Pennines at Killhope or it can be walked in the opposite direction travelling in a general NE direction. Whichever direction, this walk offers some insight into the industrial heritage of Co. Durham, takes you past the World Heritage Site of Durham’s Cathedral and Castle, visiting sites of Roman and Norman settlements, and enjoys the unspoiled countryside of the river and dale that forms a part of the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The problems of land slippage on the river side at Durham continues to necessitate diversions in the
Pelaw woods area. This is something that has impacted the Weardale Way route for all of 2014 and will continue for some
considerable time to come. Geotechnical work has been undertaken and two possible solutions have been identified, but
both with six figure price tags.
For more detail on the ongoing work and the longer term access issues on this section of the Weardale Way link to the
Durham to Bishop Auckland section of the site.
This website, developed jointly between Walking Support and I-Net Support, establishes the eighth long distance portal website maintained by I-Net Support. Unlike some of the other routes where Walking Support has been in the vanguard of the route development, the Weardale Way has been established by the work of others, principally Durham County Council and over more recent years Alistair Wallace. This website however is the first time that the route has had a dedicated electronic presence and been promoted on the World Wide Web. We hope that this will assist the Way to be better known and enjoyed by more walkers and Walking Support is committed to the ongoing help and assistance that we provide to walkers wanting to experience the great walking opportunities of Northern Britain.
This website was development in 2005 / 2006 and has all the usual features and data that our
other acclaimed walking websites provide.
In addition the Weardale Way website has a picture gallery of
views from the route. To access this simply click here.
The site contains data on the route, with associated history and interest pages. We
have an information section for walkers assisting them to plan the walk and offering
guidance in terms of safety, directions and stop over points. There is a directory of walker
friendly accommodation, refreshment, and transport providers. This is limited in its content and until this is further developed
Walking Support can offer
their services in planning and booking.
To be kept up to date with the development of this website and to learn all the details on
the Way you can register to receive our Walkers’ E-Newsletter. This is provided
FREE of charge and to register it is as simple as clicking
here and sending the e-mail. Walking Support will not disclose your name or
any part of our newsletter database to a third party. These newsletters will also contain
stories and information relating to other long distance walking routes.
The map images used on this website have been produced from the Ordnance Survey
Get-a-Map service. Images reproduced with kind
permission of Ordnance Survey
and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
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