Picnic Spot: Rookhope

About

It is always worthwhile turning off any of County Durham’s main roads to discover unexpected delights. None more so than in Weardale where in the village of Eastgate (west of Stanhope) a turning leads to the village of Rookhope and one of Durham’s hidden valleys.

Rookhope is a name with an international reputation with geologists around the world. The Rookhope Borehole project of 1960 and the discovery of a layer of granite deep down forced a re-think on how the mineral deposits of the North Pennines Orefield originated. 

Rookhope is a landscape which inspired one of England’s greatest 20th century poets. Wystan Hugh Auden (d 1973) visited the dale on family holidays as a young boy and was captivated by the haunting beauty of the hills.

And Rookhope is peppered with the remains of the once mighty lead mining industry. The stone arched remains of the flue of Lintzgarth smelt mill chimney straddle the Rookhope Burn beyond Rookhope village. A picnic in the lay by close to the remains allows time to fully admire this legacy of the lead mining period.

Location:                     Rookhope

OS Map                       OS 87 and OS 92