Walking the ex-North Eastern Railway Tees Valley Railway

[Rlangham]

As a child my grandparents lived in the village of Cotherstone, close to the disused Tees Valley Railway, and I used to walk on the old line, now a footpath, the extent of the walk usually being to the old Cotherstone Station or the Balder Viaduct. For a long time I wanted to walk the whole route that survives as a footpath - from near Middleton, the end of the line, to about 3/4 mile past Cotherstone towards Barnard Castle. Where the path ends, if you climb out of the cutting via the steps provided you can see where the line to Kirkby Stephen East/Stainmore etc went, the line dividing after Lartington. Lartington Station is still in beautiful condition as a private residence, along with the goods shed and other small buildings.

I first started the walk from Middleton-in-Teesdale in August, there is plenty of parking in the village and the path lies to the south of the town, as does the Station. The Station is now part of a caravan park on the old Station site, which once included, amongst other buildings, an engine shed. The path starts a little while to the east of this, which I only found after walking near the Station site, although on the plus side it did mean I managed to get a photo of the Station building. When walking out of Middleton heading south, after the road bridge over the river look for the sign through a farm for the path and you'll find it after walking through several fields, a farm yard and up a bit of a slope.



Middleton-in-Teesdale Station - http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/mi ... ndex.shtml



Not far from the start of the path you come across the Lunedale Viaduct, one of two viaducts on the line









Looking back towards Middleton-in-Teesdale, this is the site of Mickleton Station - now a car park and a place to start the walk - http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/mi ... ndex.shtml



At Romaldkirk you have to go around the line twice - firstly to go around the Station area as this is now private housing, including the Station building itself - and has a very nice signal outside it! http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/ro ... ndex.shtml





Possibly an old level crossing post?

There is then a more lengthy detour around the village as the Goods Shed area is also private property, part of a farm, which has original buildings



The view of the Goods building from the Station site







The above three photos are from the view when the detour is finished and the railway is joined again

Not long after this point my feet gave in owing to new boots, and had to return to Middleton - still quite a walk already (it's about 6 miles in total so of course you have to double it to get back to your car if you're driving and not timed it enough to use the very infrequent local bus service!). The other half was left until this week to do, which couldn't have been a much bigger contrast. Photos for this section to come later

[Boris]

Wonderful pictures

[PinzaC55]

Fascinating. That goods shed cries out for a model! Heres my shot of Mickleton in 1976 when there was still some of the platform left
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinzac55/3890335683/ and Romaldkirk in 1975 when it was being converted to a house after being derelict for some years http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinzac55/3890335671/

[earlswood nob]

G'Day all
It looks a lovely walk. I might even put that on my walks to do list.
I have walked all the relatively local closed lines, and plan to walk part of the Woodhead route.
How long is the Tees Valley line?
Earlswood Nob

[Rlangham]

About 7 miles in total I think from the far end past Cotherstone, to the end at Middleton.

Thanks for those photos Pinza, fascinating to see the old platform, it's a shame they didn't keep it rather than turn it into a car park. I wonder when the old bridge that goes over the line at Romaldkirk went away? I presume it was for sheep rather than pedestrians. Looking at old photos, it does appear that what I thought was a level crossing post is the original one

[PinzaC55]

The level crossing post is likely NER as the LNER would have replaced it with a concrete one. Re the Romaldkirk footbridge I think it was in poor condition even in 1975, BTW have you seen the article on the Romaldkirk model in the September 1975 issue of Model Railways? I used to have a collection of photos of the line (I still have the scans!) and I know all the stations except Middleton were derelict after closure probably due to BR wanting too much for them? Its certainly hard to imagine Mickleton having many vandals in the 1960s!

[Steve05]

Great shots and it certainly looks like a wonderful day for your exploration.
Very interesting and thanks for the post.

Regards

Steve