Blanchland : Easy Waterfall Walk, Picnic Spot & Playground

A lovely 1.5 mile circular walk around Blanchland with a children's playground at the end
Spot waterfalls en-route
Picnic areas and tables by the river (it is possible to paddle when supervised in some areas)
A pub, tearoom and post office in the village
Bring £1 for parking (honesty box system). Postcode DH8 9TA
Blanchland Village has a bus stop, check with bus operators for the most up to date info as this may change but at the moment bus 773 Hunstanworth-Consett stops in the village.
The full walk is not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs due to uneven woodland ground and it can get muddy after snow/rain in places. If you do wish to bring a pushchair, I think the first part of the walk would be ok in dry conditions (from the village to the picnic site)
The second part of the walk features some areas where there is quite a drop down to the river and although the paths are wide, children and dogs will need to be supervised. Very short sections of the walk are on the road but it's pretty quiet

The Walking Route

Sadly, google maps would only let me plot the first half of the route above so I will do my best to describe it to you.

1 - Start in Blanchland Village Car Park (postcode DH8 9TA). Turn right out of the car park, follow the path into the village and when you get to the stone arch, turn right up the road until you reach Blanchland Village Hall (see map above).

2 - At Blanchland Village Hall you will see a signposted footpath to Baybridge. Follow this all the way along until you get to the road. There will be playing fields to your right.

3 - Once you reach the road, turn left and cross over the road bridge. You could visit Bay Bridge Picnic Site here, there are picnic tables with beautiful views of the river. Or you can access parts of the river to paddle in depending on conditions (obviously supervise children).

If you don't wish to continue into the woods, you could turn back and retrace your steps. I think this part of the walk may be ok for pushchairs in dry conditions. If you wish to skip the walk altogether and just enjoy a picnic, there is parking at the picnic site (postcode DH8 9UB).

4 - If you wish to continue the circular loop, cross the road bridge and turn left into the woodland area which is maked with a 'public path' sign. Follow the woodland path alongside the river until you reach the road at the end.

This part of the walk features a good sized waterfall and a few smaller ones too and provides excellent views of the countryside, village and river. There is a bit of a drop on one side down to the river in parts though so do supervise young children and animals.

5 - Once you reach the road, turn left and make your way back into Blanchland Village. Below is the route from my google timeline, it's around 1.5miles circular in total.

Blanchland Playground

Blanchland Village Playground is lovely and definitely worth a visit. It is located behind the village hall overlooking the river. You can see the playground as you walk past either when you join the footpath behind the village hall at the start of the walk or after you rejoin the road after passing through the woods at the end of the walk.

It's an enclosed playground with seating and a few picnic tables. Dogs are not permitted inside the playground. Equipment includes:

A zip wire
Climbing nets
Slide
Swings
Toddler swings
Seesaw

Blanchland Village

There are maps in the car park should you wish to go for longer walks in the area. The village is very small and you don't need a map to find anything - everything is next to each other.

Blanchland Village is small but perfectly formed and very pretty. Here are a few places of interest where you may wish to pop in:

Jaspah Crewe Gift Shop
Blanchland Village Shop & Post Office (also sells takeaway hot drinks and ice creams and has a few tables outside)
White Monk Tearooms (dog friendly)
Lord Crewe Arms (dog friendly in the Crypt Bar)
Blanchland Abbey
Public toilets (just across the road from the park / next to the Lord Crewe

We decided to visit the Crypt Bar at the Lord Crewe Arms which is such a nice setting for a pint. However we found the food to be overpriced (£7 for a portion of fries) and the service to not be the best (disinterested staff and we had to go and search for cutlery and napkins after our fries were just dumped on the table).

I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt though and perhaps they just had a bad day. Next time I am going to visit the tearooms instead but if you do fancy giving the Lord Crewe Arms a try, don't let my bad experience put you off trying it yourself. I will probably give them another go in the future.

Lord Crewe Arms Blanchland Crypt Bar Dog Friendly

Bar Bait Fries at Lord Crewe Arms Blanchland

What to do nearby

Derwent Waterside Park is just a short drive from Blanchland and I would definitely say it was worth combining the two.

Derwent Waterside Park is home to a small visitor centre / cafe, a large adventure playground, an enclosed dog exercise field where they can be let off lead (it's free to use), walks around the reservoir, toilets and more. You can read my blog guide to Derwent Waterside Park here.

Please note, at time of publishing, the popular Boat Shack by the Reservoir has had to close. They do hope to open in some form over the summer so please check their FB page for updates.

Photos from the Walk

The first part of the walk is a path alongside playing fields

The first part of the walk

Playing fields on the first part of the walk

Picnic tables by the river at the mid-point of the walk

The second part of the walk through woodland

We visited on a winter's day during term time and it was really quiet. I do imagine when the sun is shining, parking and the picnic areas probably get busy so on a nice day, I'd recommend setting off early.

Worth it though! It's a lovely place.