From Trails to Ruins: Off the Beaten Track Cycling to Finchale Priory & Beaurepaire

Ready to slow things down and soak in some beautiful countryside on two wheels? 🌿🚵‍♀️
Join me on a chilled day ride adventure through the scenic off-road trails of County Durham, where I explore hidden paths, discover medieval ruins, and enjoy the simple joys of cycling in nature.

In this episode, I:
✅ Ride quiet, lesser-known off-road cycling routes
✅ Visit the Beaurepaire Ruins – a secret 13th-century priory once used by Durham monks
✅ Explore the majestic Finchale Priory – home of the legendary hermit St. Godric
✅ Cruise along the stunning Durham City riverside
✅ Stop at Chester-le-Street park for a well-earned chips break 🍟
✅ Finish with some fun, flowy trails in Beamish Woods

🎯 This ride is perfect for:

Anyone who loves cycling for fun

People of all fitness levels

Fans of exploring by bike

Outdoor enthusiasts seeking mental health benefits from time in nature

There’s no rush on this ride. It’s all about adventure cycling at your own pace, taking in beautiful views, discovering hidden historical sites, and enjoying the moment.

📍 Featured Locations:
• Beaurepaire Priory Ruins
• Finchale Priory (“Finkle”)
• Durham Riverside
• Chester-le-Street Park
• Beamish Woods

Whether you’re into adventure cycling or just love exploring off-the-beaten-path locations, this video is for you. Expect a mix of cycling tips, history, and raw outdoor adventure vibes.

Music by Lee Sheridan.

#adventurecycling #offroadcycling #durham #outdooradventure #soloadventures #mentalhealthjourney #bikeadventures #durham

[Music] Welcome back to Trail [Laughter] Mix. Uh so today, uh I’m on another local ride. Um and I’m going to be heading towards a place called Finkele Priary or Finkele Abby as it’s also known. And I’m going to be passing some of the ruins on the way. So, I’m heading down to Lchester now, which is that direction. Let’s go. Excuse me. Feasant. Just stopped to talk to me, mate. Yin. This is Yin. He talks more than that normally, right? Oh, I’m a quiet lad. Quiet lad. Where do you live? Here. Banktop cottage. Burn hope. Right. Just out in the garden enjoying the sunshine. Just met this lad here walking his dog as well. What’s your name? My name is John and this is Archie and he just John and Archie walk. He’s been uh down into Chapman’s Well Nature Reserve for the first time. Lovely. And you live local, don’t you? Yeah, down Craig Head. You live there long? 76 years. Oh, wow. And you’ve just come up here? Wow. That’s amazing. All right. So this route is um it’s going to go from Lchester down to Durham and then from Durham along the river uh towards Finkele Finkele Priary. Um and you can do it virtually all off road and on the way I’m going to show you this uh these medieval ruins called Bore Repair that not many people know about. I only found out about them recently. Um, just off the Lester Valley route. One of the reasons I like uh riding this route is because of the the scenery. It’s absolutely amazing on both sides. I mean, look at that over there, man. Mind blown that. liking it. Definitely a place I would recommend uh for all levels of fitness this place cuz it like I say it’s away from roads and it’s it’s reasonably flat and it’s just amazing scenery. Plenty of seats where you can sit down as well. All right. So, this bore repair I was saying about these ruins are just further [Applause] up. How tranquil can you get? So this is um just off the Lester Valley route trail. Sort of like a bit like off the beaten track. I’ll show you this bore repair ruins in a minute. Whoa. [Laughter] Probably just easier to push to be honest. Going to have flu in anyway cuz there’s a gate. Have you heard of this? The way of light could be bivy in there, couldn’t you? Lovely place, isn’t it? Eh, bivvie there. Oh, I shouldn’t have told you that. I’m giving the whimie [Laughter] secrets. Nah, I don’t think I bivy here. Like, I What an amazing place. Somebody told us about it when I was out on a bike ride actually. Have you been to bore repair? Bore repair. And I’m like, what? Bore repair? What’s that mean? You know what I mean? It’s And when I looked at the spelling, it looks um It looks French or something, doesn’t it? I don’t know. But if you pause the video on that uh that uh thing down there, the sign, you’ll be able to read the history if you’re interested. So, I’ve only been here once. I don’t know why I haven’t been uh again. Right, we’re heading down into Durham now. Um along the river. Let’s go. All right. So, that was bore repair. So, I think there’s a bit of a hill coming up now. So, if you if you want to head into Durham, if you’re coming this way, you don’t have to obviously come this way. You can just stay on the Lester Valley road, go past Alden Graange Farm and then turn left. It’s all signposted and that misses this bit out. I was nearly going to uh have to put the Rocky for training montage on there, but I’m nearly at the top. How I find these roots really is just that I go on um I look on maps. Um I find ordinance survey maps have got the the most detail. One thing I will say though about this place this area I mean extremely quiet. I just love peace and quiet. Like it’s one of the other reasons why I like to get out in places like this off the beaten track. Absolutely mint. Um, so I’ve just seen a sign there. The Northern Saints Trail. Have you heard of that? Going to have to stop because there’s green flies all over us. The Northern Saints Trail. Um, I think it’s a walking trail. I think when I was looking at it before, there’s quite a few of them. Five or six of them in the area northeast. There’s loads of green flies out today. Must be green fly day. Hope they don’t bite these like um I’m speaking nonsense again on it. Oh, hey. What a day so far. So, I’m going off the beaten track again. I’ve just missed me turning other side of that hedge through a field. And then I think I come out at uh what do you call it? Neville’s Cross. All right. And then and then we’re going into Durham. Doesn’t get much better than this, does it? Eh. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Look at this scenery. I’m getting excited over now really on that one. No, no. Just appreciating the the simple things. Sometimes the simple things the best, aren’t they? All right. So, these uh trails are all marked on the map. It’s class as a bridal. Just seen a couple of people there and surprised people know about it. See this pedestrian crossing here. This must be the best one I’ve ever known. Watch how quick the lights come on. Ready? One, two, three. There you are. It’s on. best one in the area. Have you noticed other zebra crossings, pedestrian crossings rather, like you wait there for ages and then it tells you to cross them when there’s no cars coming in anyway. It’s really helpful that way. So, we’re just uh next to Durham Riverside going past the Rison Hotel. So, to get to Finkele Priary, Finkele Abby, you go straight on. just a short time on the road. It’s quiet road this cuz it’s dead end. You can only get so far in a car. Um and then it’s like off-road. Well, I say off-road. It’s not really bumpy trail. Still smooth, but it’s just pedestrian and cyclist access only. Horses as well, probably. Well, it will be if it’s a bridal way. Heard a little kid there admiring me by got taste in he know that trail mix when he’s older. Trail mix 2 the sequel trail mix too. You remember when um they used to have um trailers like that for films? Now it’s just like all the top music now. And it used to be like Steven Seagal. All right. Is just a cook. Steven Seagal. I’m just a cook. Sorry. I’m just a cook. Sorry. Say that again, Stephen. I cannot quite speak up. I’m just a cook. Oh, you see, cuz I’m being too cocky and talking to myself. I’ve actually went the wrong way. I’ve went to a dead end. Just seen a sign there. Um, Newton Hall, quarter of a mile. I don’t know where Newton Hall is. So, well, it’s quarter of a mile ahead. Uh, hi. So, like I said, it’s not really a trail. It’s just like a it’s like a road, but you kind of drive down here like near point cuz it like gets too thin and then it’s like a dead end. There’s a short steep section and I think you go through a nature reserve. We’ll see. Been here before and I’m still next to the river. What does it say on the map? You’re going the wrong way. That’s what it says. Now I’m [Laughter] joking. Hyper again, man. Hyper. Why are you only riding your bike? You hyper for? I don’t know. So, according to the map coming up, there’s uh there’s two actual ways you can go, but there are both come out at the same place. So, six and two threes. There’s the hill I was telling you about. It’s one of those kind of hills, right, where you look around and go, “I don’t much worse than that.” And it’s it’s always quite difficult. It’s probably cuz you’re underestimated. That’s what it is. All right. What I should do is think I’m climbing up Mount Everest and then when I get the top I’ll go is that Mount Everest. Mount Everest. It works. Another little tip. That and Rocky 4 theme training montage. So, this is called Low Newton Junction Nature Reserve. Um, and we’re not that far away from Fin Lab. lovely river down there like the river we and after we’ve been to Fin Lab there’s a there’s a hell of a climb to get out of the the woodland really steep and then I’m going to make me way down to uh Chesley Street Park. So this is uh Frinkle Priary. It dates from the 12th century and founded on the site of the hermitage of reformed pirate St. Godric. Part of the monastery later served as a retreat for the monks of Durham Priary. Do I sound get knowledgeable in that? Do I? Oh, I am. Do you know how? Cuz I’ve just read it on the sign. So just going over this little bridge here over the river. here. Will they see the views when you get across here? When you get halfway across, will you see them? What a brilliant trail this is. Oh, you know what? They’ve uh they’ve changed it. They’ve actually changed it. Used to be able to get down there to the right. Do you know that hill I was telling you about that was uh really really hard. They’ve resurfaced it and put gravel down. So, with a bit of luck, I might be able to get up it. Right, let’s go. You’ll see what I mean in a minute when it gets uh steep around this corner. It’s this bit you used to lose traction. Wow, the worst bits over. 19%. That was 19. It’s definitely easier than to put gravel on mine, but I’d uh unless you want to, I recommend just walking that that bit. I like all those dry uh hills, mate. Even if I go through rather than walking. There was a little old woman passed us with our shopping trolley over took us. She went, “All right, son. Do you need a hand up there on your bike?” I went, “No, Mar.” I’m way up. I’m joking. I’ve just uh stopped here to have some trail mix and I’ve just uh met a really nice bloke called Allan who watches me channel. He says he was on a bike as well. says, “You’re not the guy who who’s puts uh stuff on YouTube, are you?” What’s your name again? Trail I says, “Tillm mix.” And he went, “I watched your video yesterday.” Anyway, we just had a long chat and he’s uh give us a load of compliments, but he didn’t want to be on camera. He’s away now. Anyway, thanks thanks for watching, Alan. And it was a pleasure to meet you. See you soon. See you on the trails. So, I’m just coming into Chesley Street Park now. Lovely park. This like I think it’s probably one of the nicest in the northeast. You know what? If uh if that caf is open there, I might treat myself to some chips. Why not? Don’t know if you can see, but um just on the little waterfall bit there’s a heron I’m back on the C2C Sustrans Route 7. Yeah, this is the coast to coast and it’ll take us back up towards uh Beeish where I need to go. I think I’m going to go through uh do some off-road stuff on uh through Beamish Woods when I get there. Just stopped to have me apple. You know the old saying, don’t you? an apple on every ride. How? It’s like blankly blank, man. You’ve got to come up with uh some more some good ones on the last uh video of mine. An apple. What was it? An apple on every trail. Uh and you won’t fail. I like that one. And there was um an apple on every trip will make you drip. a good them like if you got any more let there is no why not stupid I know but hey nothing wrong with being stupid so I’m going to have me apple and I had me banana before this is more interesting information for you right did you have you ever realized how heavy a banana is I’ve been lugging this banana around with us all day right and then I at it and then me bag’s like this little waist pack thing is like no weight in it now I didn’t realize how heavy they were. Well, the banana was like, you know, it was this big. Like, no, I’m joking. I wasn’t. But, uh, yeah, they’re quite heavy. So, anyway, I’ll have me apple and I’ll see at the next [Music] stop. [Music] Yes. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Well, it’s the end of the video. I’m uh not far from home now. Hope you enjoyed the ride. I really enjoyed it. Um thanks for coming along and hopefully see you on the next one. [Music]