Start : Park in Barnard Castle at the Galgate Carpark beside the supermarket. (DL12 8EP) Grid ref. NZ 051 165
The walk is well signposted with Teesdale Way finger posts or with small square marker arrows labelled Teesdale Way. There are many wooden gates to pass , only the most important for navigation purposes will be mentioned.
(S/E) From the Galgate car park walk in a South-Westerly direction and slightly downhill with the supermarket to your right, pass the working men's club on the left and walk down the lane (Star Yard Road) to the main shopping street (A67).
Cross over and turn left, follow the pavement South, descending the street, walking past the circular Buttermarket and continue descending to where the road makes a sharp right turn. Follow the pavement around with the castle walls above you on the right to the bridge.
(1) Take the path that ascends to beneath the castle walls (you can walk up some steps to a raised area for some photos or you can detour here on the way back) and then take the path on the left that enters the woodland and descends to pass beside the weir and then to a footbridge.
(2) Turn left (South-West) and cross the bridge. On the other side turn right and follow the pavement to turn almost immediately right again (marker). Cross through a gate and follow the road with the river on your right and open meadow on your left for around 830 m or so. The road leads to a house on the right.
(3) Just before the road bends to the left take a path (marker) on the right (North-West) to ascend through woods with a view through the trees to the remains of an old railway viaduct. Ascend steps to the westernmost abutment and the old railway track. Turn left on the path and walk a short distance looking for your next marker on the right. Leave the course of the old railway to follow the path along a field boundary which soon leads to Towler Hill farm.
(4) In front of the farm turn left (marker West) and follow the track to a fence / old hedgerow on the right. Turn sharp right (North) and follow the line of the old hedge to the boundary of the wood. Turn left (West) and follow the woodland boundary, pass into the next field and continue following the woodland boundary around to a metal gate with a stream on the right. Go through the gate, turn right and head diagonally across the next field to an obvious wooden gate the fence bounding the wood.
(5) Go through the gate and descend through the wood to cross Grise Beck by a stone slab footbridge (look down and see if you can find the date carved on its surface). Now follow the path above a nature reserve / pond and a wild meadow which are part of the Lartington Estate, pass beside an information plaque on the right and look out for a silver sculpture of a bird of prey in a tree up to the left beside a lovely wooden lodge.
Continue along the path, which once again follows the boundary of the wood and passes from field to field to Cooper House. The gate ahead of you will say private land so turn left and walk to a wooden gate in the left hand corner of the field. (It is not obvious until you get near to it)
(6) Go through the gate and follow the path past Cooper house and its gardens. Go through another gate (the path splits here) and take the right hand path which descends towards the river. Cross the brook and follow the path around the meadow and back into the woodland. Above you and on the right is an old quarry, the path ascends to the edge of the quarry and follows it to join a track. Turn right and follow the track where it turns sharp left.
(7) Ignore the left turn and continue straight on, along a path passing narrow fields on the left to join a second track. Again, continue straight on (North-West), following the path along the bottom edge of some fields with what looks like an old mill building below you on the right and next to the river.
The path passes through a gate beside an old wooden barn and the passes an old wooden chicken coop on cast iron wheels. You leave the fields behind you and the path splits with the more obvious right-hand turn descending some steps to a grassy area beside the river. You can follow this but it is nice to take the narrower, left-hand path that contours the hillside. (In actual fact you are contouring the bank that one made up the defences of Cotherstone Castle on the other side of the hedge above you on the left. Nothing remains now except a few small walls in the field.) The path joins a road where you turn right and follow this road to a junction on the right where a road descends to the river.
(8)Turn right (North) and follow the road, past a playing field with football posts and a small area for parking (You can also start the walk here), then pass beside a house with a walled garden on the left to arrive at a bench and the grassy area beside the river at the bottom of the steps mentioned earlier.
Cross a footbridge over the River Balder (look out for the cast iron bollards which mark the parish boundaries) and continue to a second bridge on the right over the River Tees. Turn right and cross the bridge. Ahead is a finger post with directions.
(9) Turn right and follow the path around the edge of the meadow to pick up a path leading from the finger post, continue and then ascend into woodland above Cotherstone Crag, which is below you on the right. Pass through a gate into a field and follow the path along the edge of the woodland boundary, passing through gates a necessary. The boundary veers to the right and at this point the path continues straight ahead to a stone wall with steps up and over.
(10) Cross the stone wall and turn right to follow the path above a small stream and waterfall. The path descends to enter woodland and then crosses a narrow wooded footbridge above a second small waterfall. Cross back into fields and continue around the edge of the woodland boundary to West Holme House (farm). The path leads to the left of the farm and passes through a gate into a field with the original white farm building on the left.
The path continues diagonally right (South then South-East) across the field and crosses into further farmland. Again it follows the woodland boundary to East Holme House (farm) and it continues in the same way until a gated and locked track on the right slants up through the woods on the right. Ignore this and keep straight on. Pass through a wooden gate and in the next field look out for a wooden gate in the fence on the right.
(11) Turn right (South-West) and go through the gate. Then turn right immediately and follow the narrow path which descends to a meadow beside the river. Pass through a gate into the meadow. Turn left and follow the path to pass through a gate and into woodland.
The path continues through the woodland with the river on your right until it gently ascends to the remains of the old railway viaduct on the east side of the river.
(12) The path continues and descends some stone steps, after this, it continues more easily to a footbridge; cross over and on the far side turn right to descend to the bridge you previously crossed at the waypoint (2).
(2) Do not cross the bridge. Take the narrow road on the left which ascends to join the end of a wider road (Vere Rd). The path (marked) continues on the right to pass a mini gold course and children's play area. This brings you out on the grassy area in front of the castle entrance.
(13) Turn left and walk past the church to the main street. You can take time to explore the shops or you can cross over via the traffic lights and crossing and head back to the parking. (S/E)
