It’s a linear
route, but in County Durham the route braids and you’ve
a decision to make. Following the hillier northern braid between
Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland through Hamsterley Forest
gives you the total mapped distance of 151 miles (241km). Following
the southern braid saves you a couple of miles and is easier
on the legs.
Being a ‘coast to coast’ route across the more northerly
part of England, it’s ‘up hill and down dale’
for much of the way, so if you’re not reasonably fit and
used to cycling a decent distant on consecutive days, then some
training is probably in order. We think going by the northern
braid is comparable overall to cycling the popular C2C route.
The aptly named Bigland Hill (just 20 miles into the route from
Walney Island) and the lengthy climb up Tan Hill, the highest
point on the route at 1,732 feet above sea level, are two particular
treats that lay in store – and where you’ll rapidly
come to appreciate that it pays to travel as light as possible,
and with your tyres pumped up.
The majority of the route is on
quiet roads (much of the time) and country lanes, linked together
with sections of cycle path, forest road and roughish track.
The route through Barrow on Abbey Road can be a tad busy, but
cycle lanes do appear, so stick with it and you’ll soon
be cruising down the tree-line approach to the impressive remains
of Furness Abbey.
For Whitby option info click
here
Route Profile
Click here to see the Route
Profile via Oxenholme (as opposed to going in and out of
Kendal), it will open in a new window in PDF format. The total
climbing for this route is approximately 1380 metres. Sections
on unsealed roads or paths and track account for approximately
14% of the route.
Distances
Here are the cumulative and split distances between the main
towns and some villages on the route.
| |
point to
point
distance
|
cumulative
distance
|
| Walney
Island |
0
|
0
|
| Barrow in Furness |
2
|
2
|
| Ulverston |
11
|
13
|
| Cartmel |
12
|
25
|
| Grange-over-Sands |
2
|
27
|
| Oxenholme / Kendal |
15
/ 18
|
42 / 45
|
| Orton |
19
|
61
|
| Kirkby Stephen |
13
|
74
|
| Tan Hill |
11
|
85
|
| Bowes |
9
|
94
|
| Barnard Castle |
7
|
101
|
via northern
braid
|
|
|
| Hamsterley |
14
|
115
|
| Durham |
18
|
133
|
| Sunderland |
18
|
151
|
via southern
braid
|
|
|
| Bishop Auckland |
18
|
119
|
| Durham |
12
|
131
|
| Sunderland |
18
|
149
|
W2W in Cycling Plus
In May 07 the Walney to Wear route
was featured in Cycling Plus magazine as a Classic Ride - to
read a copy of the article click
this link
Route in more detail
The route breaks down into some distinct landscape character
areas and we aim to add more details soon. Suffice to say, and
as the accounts and photos from early W2W cyclist show, the
scenery is superb, with plenty of fascinating heritage woven
in with abbeys, castles, museums and market towns:
Barrow
and Lake District Peninsulas
South
Cumbria's Low Fells and the Lune Gorge
Eden
Valley and North Pennines
Land of the Prince Bishops
Sunderland and Wearmouth
Official Map
Combining with the C2C
