Weardale Circular – 5 miles

  For our latest walk we headed a little further west than our normal range, almost across the border into Surrey.  We were brought in this direction by the presence of a Christmas market at a National Trust property, Chartwell House, the former home of Churchill, and Beth was pleased to find a nice-looking route on their website.

  After enjoying a wander around the market and a hot chocolate, we set off uphill through the woods and away on another adventure.  The weather was a little cool and mostly overcast, with a light drizzle bothering us to begin with, but it soon cleared up.  Coming off the back of a slightly trickier walk around the Ashdown Forest, we felt happy to be back under the guidance of the National Trust’s clear instructions and map!

  The first stretch of the walk through woodland was a little muddy underfoot but quite manageable, emerging into a pretty little hamlet, with a hand-drawn way marker pointing us in the right direction.  This led us down some steep steps, then up a corresponding slope past a flock of sheep.  Pausing for a sip of water at this point, we reminded ourselves that looming in the not-too-distant future was a trip to Scotland to climb Ben Nevis – the slopes of the southeast mere playing fields to what awaits us; gulp!

  The next portion of the walk was continuous woodland, broken only by a couple of quiet roads to cross, during which time Beth mentioned how much she was enjoying herself, and how much she appreciated the clear instructions – woohoo!  We soon found ourselves entering another National Trust property, Emmett’s Garden, where we picked up a couple of sandwiches for lunch, which were festive and yummy.

  Leaving Emmett’s Garden the same way we entered, about 50 yards along the woodland path we turned left to take us a different way back.  Sadly, at this point we heard someone calling for ‘Dobby’, and soon after met a couple who informed us that Dobby was a missing dog, and asked us to keep an eye out for a lurcher in a green coat.  Of course we did look as we went, but sadly did not spot her – we sincerely hope that they found their way back together.

  Following the path through the woodland, it was shortly afterward that we went wrong for the one and only time, and that by a matter of seconds, because we weren’t paying attention to how many crossroads we had passed.  Once we’d figured it out, we began to ascend a particularly steep section of footpath, which eventually levelled out after a few minutes of puffing and panting.

  Crossing back over one of the roads, a short time later the woodland briefly opened up at the top of the hill to display views of the open land below (and prize which would have been a little more dazzling on a sunnier day!).  The real prize was a nice, lengthy portion of downhill, which took us out of the woods and along a quite bit of road.  Unfortunately, at the bottom of the downward was a very steep (but thankfully short) upward, which ultimately returned us to the hamlet we had crossed through earlier.

  The last part of the return journey took us along the same muddy path we started on, however before we made it all the way back, the route deviated left to direct us back into the Chartwell grounds from a different direction.  This was a good idea, as it made the ending different from the start, always a plus, and we found ourselves back in the car and on the way home soon after.

  The website advertises this as a three-hour walk, but we smashed it out in two (go us!).  This walk received a huge thumbs-up from Beth, who loved the clear instructions and relatively easy terrain.  Personally, I prefer a little more variation in scenery, although still enjoyed it very much.  As Beth pointed out, this would probably make a lovely spring walk, due to the high volume of woodland, which is likely to produce an abundance of flowers – maybe we’ll have to come back and find out!  This could also couple well with a proper look around Emmett’s Garden, which I believe is famed for its spring Bluebells.

  Full instructions and map available at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/chartwell/weardale-circular-walk-from-chartwell