A689

A689	Harker – Brampton Bypass SW
(A69)	Brampton By Pass SW - Brampton Bypass SE
A689	Brampton By Pass SE - Bishop Auckland
(A688)	Bishop Auckland - New Coundon
A689	New Coundon - Hartlepool

Route

Section 1:Harker - Brampton

So today from a west to east viewpoint the A689 starts at the Greymoorhill (Carlisle North) Interchange. The reason the road was extended here was to relieve traffic on the A69 going through Warwick Bridge to and from the M6 at J43 but fails slightly in this objective as the A689 is not signposted from the southbound A74. A few miles south of the Interchange at Linstock we meet the remaining part of the B6264 coming out of the area of Carlisle known as Stanwix. The A689 tuns left here at what is from the east a TOTSO junction and follows for a while General Wades 18th century Military Road which ran alongside the course of Hadrian's Wall. We now bypass Crosby-on-Eden and pass North Cumbria's biggest white elephant and local joke - Carlisle Airport which was for many years an unwelcome burden on the rate/council tax bill for Carlisle until the city council finally sold it in the late 1990s.

The B6264 ran directly into Brampton but to stay on the A689 we must bear right and run along a new stretch of road to join the A69 at the western end of the Brampton Bypass, the 2 roads multiplex along most of the bypass until we reach a staggered crossroads where the next section of A689 starts to the right. The road to the left before the bypass was also the A689 and met the A69 (now A6071) on the eastern outskirts of Brampton.

Section 2:Brampton - Alston

The first village along this section is Milton with it's level crossing over the Carlisle - Newcastle railway. At Milton is Brampton Station (formerly Brampton Junction) there was at one time a Brampton Town Station as well which formed the northern terminus of the "Earl of Carlisle's Railway" one of the first to be built in Britain and which served the coal mines the earl owned in the area. After Milton comes the former mining village of Halbankgate in the parish of Farlam here we start the climb up to TIndale and the watershed between the Eden and the Tyne. One thing to note is that streams flowing west here are called becks whereas those flowing east towards the South Tyne are called burns a term more commonly used in Scotland.

At Midgeholme we cross into Northumberland and go through the village of Halton-Lea-Gate. At nearby Lambley we enter the most northerly and one of the most beautiful of the major Pennine valleys - South Tynedale (I admit I am biased in this opinion having spent large parts of my life staying or visiting the area). Lambley village was marked on maps before the 1960s as Harper Town although its railway station was always Lambley Junction it was here that the Earl of Carlisle's railway met the NER Alston or South Tyne branch. Lambley church is the most northerly in the Team Parish or United Benefice of Alston this may seem strange considering Alston is in Cumbria but ecclesiastically the area is part of the Diocese of Newcastle and before the 19th century that of Durham. The other churches in the huge parish are St Augustine's at Alston itself, St John's Garrigill (where my family were churchwardens for generations), St John's Nenthead and ones at Kirkhaugh and Knarsdale.

After Lambley the road starts to descend to the valley bottom and crosses over the Glendue Burn underneath an impressive but decaying railway viaduct the cost of the upkeep of this viaduct is the main obstacle in the plans of the South Tynedale Railway Society to extend its narrow gauge line further than it already has. Next we pass but do enter the hamlet of Knarsdale but we do go through the next village of Slaggyford (great name!!!). Around here we follow close to the route of the Maiden Way Roman Road which ran from near Kirkby Thore on the A66 to Hadrian's Wall also the Pennine Way LDP crosses and runs alongside the A689 here.

After Slaggyford passing the Whitley Castle Roman Fort we cross Gilderdale Burn and re-enter Cumbria and the civil parish of Alston Moor. As the county border signs are on either side of Gilderdale Bridge I was always wondered as a kid who looked after the bridge as it was in "No-Mans Land" but was reliably informed by my grandmother who at the time was a parish councillor for Alston Moor that Northumberland Highways maintained it. A couple of miles on we enter England's highest market town (now without a market) Alston or at least the suburb known as The Raise. Here this section of the A689 comes to an end with a junction with the A686 at the foot of the Hartside Pass.

The A686 and A689 now multiplex over the bridge and along Townfoot past the small but long named "Ruth Lancaster James Cottage Hospital Alston." At the next T-junction the A689 branches to the right and climbs the steep cobbled main street of Alston - Front Street past the town's most famous landmark The Market Cross. Twice in the last 40 years the Cross has been destroyed in traffic accidents and now Front Street is the subject of an HGV ban with lorries having to make a detour along the B6294 which runs along the hillside to the north east of the town. At the top of Front Street by the former police station to stay on the A689 we have to TOTSO; the road going straight on is the B6277 to Garrigill and through Teesdale and finally meeting the A66 at Cross Lanes near Bowes. However I digress and the A689 turns to the left past the Jolly Beard Estate and meets the B6294 at Lovelady Shield.

Section 3: Alston - Crook

Next comes the settlements of Nenthall and Nentsberry and then the former centre of the Cumbrian Leadmining industry - Nenthead whose now disused mines and associated workings are being turned into a successful heritage centre. After Nenthead we start the climb up Killhope Cross the highest point of any A road in England and enter County Durham and Weardale. I find it interesting that the three major rivers of the industrial north east, all have their sources within a few miles of each other and are all in fact within the bounds of the ancient chapelry of Garrigill. Although it is fair to say that the Tyne has 2 sources as the River North Tyne flows out of Kielder Reservoir on the Scottish border to meet with the South Tyne near Hexham.

Just below the summit of Kilhope is the Kilhope Wheel Lead Mining Museum the villages and hamlets along this section are almost continous and here's their names in order from west to east - Lanehead, Cornriggs, Copthill (where we meet the B6295 from Allendale), Cornhill, Wearhead, St Johns Chapel which boasts it's own auction mart and Daddry Shield. A few miles on and meet Westgate and Eastgate. At Eastgate is a huge Blue Circle Cement works the lorries belonging to which are the reason Alston has an HGV ban this is the also the terminus of what's left of the Wear Valley railway line although their is no passenger traffic now past Bishop Auckland.

The next settlement is the market town of Stanhope. Here we have a sort multiplex with the B6278 Teesdale to Consett road after Stanhope coems Frosterly and the town of Wolsingham, 4 miles after Wolsingham and we come to the end of the A689 extension and meet the A68 at a roundabout just outside Crook. We now go right through Crook and have to TOTSO with the A690 near the town centre and brach south towards Howden-Le-Wear and Bishop Auckland.

Section 4:Crook - Bishop Auckland

At one time the A689 went right through Bishop but now it forms a sort of three quarters ring road around the town centre and crosses the A688 (former A6074) at Coundon to become a primary route again for it's final stretch.

Section 5:Bishop Auckland - Hartlepool

Hartlepool

We now meet the A1(M) at J60 then bypass Sedgefield. Apart from a small section of S2 in order to pass under the East Coast Main Line railway the road is now mostly dual carriageway for the rest of its length. Albeit with a number of roundabouts.

This section of road provides one of the few high quality links between the two main north south roads in the North East, the A1 and A19.

It crosses the A19 at a GSJ at Wolviston near Billingham than acting as an urban dual carriageway through Hartlepool finally coming to an end at a roundabout with the A179 at West View.

Note - Before the 1960s Hartlepool was two seperate towns - the small port of Hartlepool itself and the larger industrial town of West Hartlepool together they were both referred to as Hartlepools. The A689 had its eastern terminus at the A1048 in West Hartlepool.

History

The A689 is one of the longest Axxx roads and almost runs from coast to coast but this was not always so. Prior to c1970 the road only ran from the A68 near Crook to Hartlepool but with the closure of the Wear Valley and South Tyne valley railways the road was extended over the Pennines to Brampton in Cumbria (Cumberland). Later still around 1990 the road was extended further to reach J44 of the M6 at Greymoorhill on the northern edge of Carlisle. Strangely enough it is the original section of the A689 I am unfamiliar with but have travelled on parts of the rest of the road most of my life.When it was extended the A689 took over the routes or part of the routes of other road numbers here is a list a them: Crook - Alston Townhead B6293 Alston Front Street B6277 (part) Alston The Raise - Brampton B6292 Brampton - Linstock B6264 (part) Linstock - M6 J44 C road (is this the only instance of where a C road has been upgraded to a primary route?)