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Seeing Weardale by public transport can be a frustrating business. Bus #101 runs roughly hourly between Bishop Auckland and Stanhope, with less frequent extensions up the valley to Cowshill; however, to get the bus to take you to the valley's main sight, the lead-mining museum at Killhope, two miles further on, you'll have to ask the driver (or arrange it in advance with the bus company; tel 01388/528235) - and don't forget to request a pick-up for the way back. Otherwise, your only hopes are the #X21 from Newcastle to Stanhope (Wed & Sat only), and the summer Saturday-only #X85 from Durham to Kendal, which calls at Bishop Auckland, Stanhope and Killhope. Lead and iron-ore mining flourished in and around Weardale from the 1840s to the 1880s, leaving today's landscape scarred with old workings. One of the bigger mines, situated three miles west of Cowshill, a chilly 1500ft above sea level, has been turned into the Killhope Lead Mining Museum (April-July & Sept daily 10.30am-5pm; Aug daily 10.30am-6pm; Oct Sat & Sun 10.30am-5pm; GBP3.40, GBP5, including mine visit; ), whose 34-foot high waterwheel still turns, using six thousand gallons of water per minute from a string of diverted streams. Descending Park Level Mine with hard hat and lamp gives you a taste of the miserable mining life. If you end up walking the two miles back down the Weardale Way to Cowshill to catch the bus, console yourself at the Cowshill Hotel , which serves highly recommended bar meals. Two miles east of Cowshill down the main road, tiny IRESHOPEBURN is the home of the Weardale Museum (Easter, May-July & Sept Wed-Sun 2-5pm; Aug daily 2-5pm; GBP1), an excellent small folk museum with displays on lead mining, the railways and Methodism, the faith of the majority of Durham's lead miners; entry to the museum also allows you access to the adjacent High House Chapel , the oldest Methodist chapel in the world in continuous use, built in 1760 just eight years after John Wesley's first visit to the region. About nine miles downstream from Ireshopeburn lies STANHOPE , the main village of the valley and a useful base for walks across the moors - the tourist office (Easter to Oct daily 10am-5pm; Nov to Easter Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat & Sun 11am-4pm; tel 01388/527650, durham.dales.centre@durham.gov.uk ), in the Durham Dales Centre, Castle Gardens, opposite Market Place, has all the trail details and a list of B&Bs. Prominent among Stanhope's accommodation options is Stanhope Old Hall on the main road just west of the town centre (tel 01388/528451; GBP60-70), a bargain opportunity to stay in a twelfth-century fortified hunting lodge of the prince bishops of Durham - or make do with a cosy drink in front of a huge open fire.
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