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| Looking up Weardale from near
Collier Law. |
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Introduction |
The River Wear begins high in the Durham Dales (north of the Yorkshire
Dales) at the junction of the Killhope and Burnhope Burns next to the village
of Wearhead. The high plateau of the moors dips into a deep valley as the river
heads east, passing many villages along the way - Ireshopeburn, St. John's
Chapel, Westgate, Eastgate, Stanhope, Frosterley and Wolsingham. Emerging into
the lowlands stretching to the North Sea, the river meets its first big town
(Crook), first city (Durham) and then bends north to meet the sea at
Sunderland.
Many tourist guides call Weardale "the last undiscovered Yorkshire Dale"
(even though Weardale is actually in County Durham!). Sadly this is no longer
true. There are many caravan sites in the valley and the road through it
between Crook and Alston seems to get busier every year. But the bleak and wild
moors are still there and many beauty spots can be found hidden away from the
tourist hordes in the rest of the Dales.
Why is a Kiwi interested in a remote English dale? The reason is because
my mother's side of the family comes from the small village of Frosterley in
the lower reaches of the dale.
This page contains links to various other sites that I have found with
information about Weardale. These are not arranged in any particular order in
the sections below.
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General |
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Alston (just over the moors from Weardale) |
| Page |
Comment |
| Alston |
A good introduction with lots of
information about the town. |
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Killhope Wheel |
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Rookhope |
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Stanhope |
| Page |
Comment |
| Stanhope |
The best place in the dale to visit for
tourist information is the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope. |
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Frosterley |
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Wolsingham |
