IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Lanchester, DURHAM, DH7 0RJ

Part of the Lanchester Valley Walk and National Cycleway No. 14

This little street of 25 terraced bungalows is a little unusual in its location in the middle of farming countryside. It lies just west of the old farm of Hurbuck, beside the B6308, main road between Consett and Lanchester. They owe nothing to farming however, having been built in 1925 by Consett Iron Company for miners in nearby drift mines. Similar little isolated mining communities in Co Durham were often deserted and demolished after the mines closed in the later C20, but these have survived.

As the County Durham blue and yellow road sign indicates, Hurbuck Cottages lies a short distance along Humberhill Lane from the road junction. There's a dozen or so cottages in the row, all bungalows.

Berries and Autumn colours in the hedges near Hurbuck Cottages.

This large shed is on the other side of Humberhill Lane to Hurbuck Cottages. It seems to be used as a winter shelter for cattle by one of the nearby farms.

For most of its route, Lanchester Valley Path (part of National Cycle Network route 14) follows the line of the old railway from Durham to Lydgetts Junction. But here, for about 1 km, the line of the trackbed was lost due to opencast mining in the past, and the path is diverted to follow a track adjacent to Delves Lane.

The Lanchester Valley Railway Path runs beside the farm access road here.

View looking north to the village of Iveston, on the hill in the distance.

From the north end, south of Hurbuck Cottages. The road runs south from here and over the ridge in the distance, which is Humber Hill itself. This forms the north slope of the Browney valley.