Winter Wonderland at Bowes

A period of low temperatures and then a good covering of snow brought a Winter wonderland to Bowes in the North Pennines.

On location: 12th February 2021

Parking: This short walk begins in Bowes Village near St Giles’s Church on the main street through the village. GR: NY 9929 1354 What Three Words ///maker.adjuster.cropping. Please be considerate when parking.

Refreshments: Facilities are limited in the village, there are no public toilets or cafés. Food, drink and accommodation can be had at the village pub, The Ancient Unicorn. Check website for details. The town of Barnard Castle is only 5 miles away where there is a good choice of facilities.

Introduction: This is a there and back walk of less than 4 miles. As you will see, given the right conditions, the frozen bank of Sleightholme Beck provides a spectacular sight. At the time of this walk (2010) there was a permissive path on the banks of the beck which allowed a close visit to the area of the icicles. It is unclear as to whether this is still the case. Please abide by the East Mellwaters landowners signage in the vicinity.

Route map: click on the arrow to play the route. Route files in various formats such as GPS are available to download by clicking in the Plotaroute.com link at the bottom right.

Passing around to the back of the church we had a good view of the castle. Plenty of fresh snow lying. We walked through the field below the castle.

Ahead there was a blanket of fog in the valley but we were in the sunshine. It was bitterly cold though.

Crossing the wall at the stile we continued across the fields on the public footpath.

The castle keep. You can find out more about Bowes Castle here.

Crossing another stile we take the path that passes by Ivy Hall campsite. Obviously closed at the moment.

A grand winter view, sunshine and snow in the Greta valley.

Swinholme farm through the fog, where we are heading next.

Beautiful conditions and light in the meadow.

Approaching Swinholme farm.

Dropping down the lane to the river Greta. This section is part of the Pennine Way loop.

The old spring with it’s unusual walled surround.

The bank of the river Greta. (Since this walk in 2010 electric fencing has been erected which limits access to the riverbank).

Frosted thistle.

The footbridge across the Greta. We will be taking the same route as the walkers ahead of us.

Beautiful ice crust on a bramble.

An old shed at West Charity farm. A good subject for a painting.

Almost like a Christmas decoration, frost coats a pine branch.

We use another footbridge, Cardwell bridge, to cross the beck and turn left to follow Sleightholme Beck upstream. In about 200m we are at the “ice wall”.

Obviously the conditions have to be just right for the icicles to form to this extent. It requires a long period of freezing weather to allow the water that seeps of the moor above to form the icicles. The bank is north facing so it is never in the sun at this time of year.

To give a sense of scale I pose my model in the scene. The icicles form most winters but only for short periods. Not often are they as good as this.

Moving further upstream we are back in the sunlight. Ice sheets cover the running waters of the beck.

Ice encrusted river. East Mellwaters farm is up to the right. On this walk we turn around at this point.

We return back to the village using our outward route.

Passing back past Swinholme Farm.

It was a beautiful day to be out for a walk and of course the “ice wall” at East Mellwaters was a good spectacle. In a few days it may have gone.

I hope that you have enjoyed this short blog and the photographs that hopefully capture the glorious winter conditions here at Bowes. If you like these articles, why not subscribe to the website using the check box the right to get regular updates.

Thanks for reading.

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