Mountjoy

About

Rewarding climb to see Durham spread-eagled spectacularly below.

After a picturesque riverside stretch along the River Browney and River Wear, The Way of Life leads away from the water to the walk’s last big challenge for fatigued pilgrims: a flight of 224 steps up to the top of a hill named Mountjoy. Whether this name was given ironically (pain could better describe what a pilgrim who had journeyed so many miles to this point might have been feeling) or in earnest (from the summit Durham Cathedral and journey’s end are visible, enough to hearten the weariest of wayfarers) is unclear.

Your own emotions at sighting your destination so close might be mixed but regardless, you can join pilgrims of past ages in giving thanks for having (almost) arrived unscathed.