Tuesday 10th November was a lovely autumnal misty morn when 14 of us set out on our way from the bridge in Middleton-in-Teesdale along the river Tees towards a fine footbridge linking the North bank of the Tees with the South Bank at Mickleton and curiously with 3 names: Beckstones Wath Bridge, also known as Millenium Bridge and Lord Ethelburger’s Peace Bridge. The footbridge is 80m long and was opened in 2002 to connect Mickleton to The Teesdale Way and thereby creating some marvellous circular walking routes in the area.
The river felt very tranquil and as the mist cleared we were treated to hazy sunshine for a time as we ascended and descended the various flights of steps and scrambled over a few trees which had fallen across the path.
On reaching Mickleton we followed the course of the old railway line back towards Middleton, eventually dropping gently back down to the river and once again back at Middleton-in-Teesdale bridge having covered around 5.37 miles.
Report by Janet Bayles
