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Greta Gorge. Is just to the south of Barnard Castle. Access is from the A66, take the road signed Brignal / Morritt Arms Hotel. As you leave the A66 you will see Greta Bride that is controlled by trafffic lights. Go over the bridge and the start of the walk is immediately finger posted on your left, opposite the entrance to Rokeby Park. This is a very quite road so that it is OK to park at the side of the road immediately beyond the 'Keep Clear' white lines opposite the park entrance. Rokeby Park seat of the Morritt family. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a family friend and wrote a long poem called Rokeby (1813). So you will be walking in the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott on this walk. You can read part of this poem on the Greta and Brignal Banks here: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/1832.html Greta Gorge is a magnificent but serious walk. The first section from Greta Bridge to just beyond the remains of the old St Mary's church at Brignal can be treated as a casual walk, but then it as it enters the gorge you really need your hiking boots for sure! I am not the nimblest and don't like walking with sticks or poles, but I really could have done with a walking stick here. I walked it first in mid summer when it had not been particularly wet, but even then it was wet and slippery. A stick would have been handy dealing with the undergrowth too. Having said that, it is worth every effort. In the gorge it is truly magnificent, unspoiled and a seldom visited spot not to be missed. The water is very peaty and very reminiscent of a Scottish river. At the start of the walk by the Morritt Arms, you can see the embankment of what once was a Roman Fort. Later when you reach where Medieval Brignall once stood, there is the remains of the original St Mary's church. The footpath passes through the churchyard. It is well worth taking a look at the tomb stones, some dating back to the 1600's. In summer this area is rich in meadow flowers and the many butterflies they host. You will walk passed Scotchman's Stone and come across a small cave towards the end of the 'tight' gorge section, the footpath then climbs out into a field. These were mentioned by Charles Dickens in Dotheboys Hall. "From Greta Bridge, up the bed of the Greta, passing the Scotchman's Stone and the Robber's Cave, or by road, the traveller will arrive at Bowes." You follow the track beside the Greta until it dips down into the gorge again. At the bottom is probably one of the quietest holiday cottages around at Brignall Mill. You walk around the left of it and then behind it to a wooden footbridge over the Greta. You cross it and start your return on the other bank. Later on there is a little beck to cross on stepping stones, before it eventually climbs out of the gorge. There is then about a 1Km walk across fields, and slightly less than 1 Km along a minor road before taking a footpath into the woods beside the Greta, which eventually returns you to Greta Bridge. Just cross the bridge back to the car. If you look at the map, I think the route is longer than the software calculates. I would reckon on 10 miles and 4-5 hours as the gorge sections are slow.
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