1. Raby Castle
Meeting Point: Raby Castle
We begin the Big Smile in the magnificent grounds of Raby Castle. We follow a broad path through the grassy landscape where Red and Fallow Deer herds live wild. We pass the impressively maintained medieval castle, built between 1367 and 1390 by John Neville, the 3rd Baron Neville de Raby.
We wander through Ladywood and then up towards Raby Home Farm and then Shotton enjoying the beautiful countryside home to some superb flora and fauna.
Eventually, we leave the Raby estate and find ourselves heading over Cockfield fell, common land pock marked with evidence of human habitation including flint arrowheads dating back to 8000BC.
We skirt around Cockfield itself and back through the estate to finish back at Raby Castle in a wonderful start to the Big Smile Walks.
Distance: 20 km ( 12.47 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: The Ramside Hall Hotel
1. Raby Castle
Meeting Point: Raby Castle
We begin the Big Smile in the magnificent grounds of Raby Castle. We follow a broad path through the grassy landscape where Red and Fallow Deer herds live wild. We pass the impressively maintained medieval castle, built between 1367 and 1390 by John Neville, the 3rd Baron Neville de Raby.
We wander through Ladywood and then up towards Raby Home Farm and then Shotton enjoying the beautiful countryside home to some superb flora and fauna.
Eventually, we leave the Raby estate and find ourselves heading over Cockfield fell, common land pock marked with evidence of human habitation including flint arrowheads dating back to 8000BC.
We skirt around Cockfield itself and back through the estate to finish back at Raby Castle in a wonderful start to the Big Smile Walks.
Distance: 20 km ( 12.47 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: The Ramside Hall Hotel
3. The Ushaw Moor Round
SOLD OUT
Date: 23/06/2021
Meeting Point: The Durham Federation, Bracken Ct, Ushaw Moor, Durham, DH7 7NG
9:00am meet for 9:30am departure
From Ushaw Moor we head towards Ushaw Historic House, a former seminary made-up of beautiful architecture and grounds. We pass through the wonderful gardens, before cutting through a willow plantation. This brings us out onto the Northern Saints Trail, which drops us down to St Michael and the Angels Church in Witton Gilbert.
From here, we follow the River Browney to the ruins Beaurepaire, a former priory dating back to 1258.
An uphill climb takes us towards Whitesmocks on the edge of Durham, before our route loops back around to join one of the many railway paths at the bottom of Broompark. We follow the path back along to Ushaw Moor, where a steep bank returns us to our starting point.
Distance: 14.1kms (8.76 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★☆☆☆