Once a mere spring "oozing out of a hillside", where in summer people had to watch all night and take water up with a saucer. The water supply to the well was substantially improved when a drift was excavated in this direction from Sheriff Hill Colliery (HER 3780) and water was found in old coal workings. Thomas Wilson, chairman of the local committee at the time, described the well in his poem "Pitman's Pay" - "No other spring wiv it can vie; it is a tap that ne'er runds dry - a cellar where a rich supply suits every rank and station. And it awd age myekes tipple fine, wors mun, aw think, be quite devine; for it's a batch of Adams wine we gat at the Creation". Another verse reads: "The reet ower the Fell and by Cairter's famed well, where the witer like wine ye see a'ways runnin', and is better by far then the poor blashy yel, folks get in Newcassel or even in Lunnon". In another poem Wilson praises the well once more: "Upon their vicars pant they dwell, a varry muddy waiter, compared wi' canny Carter's Well, se famed for drinking waiter… here [at the Sovereigh Public House near to the well] oft wor drouthy lads will meet, and sit till they be fuddled; and then the Well's the place at neet, for lasses getting cuddled". In 1824 when Durham Road was built two long cobbled approaches were built to the well from the road to allow cattle to drink from it. The work said to have cost £20 which was a sizeable sum of money at the time. Carter's Well was Low Fell's main source of water until the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company supplied the village with a water supply in the late nineteenth century. Gateshead Council closed the well in 1895 having found a sample to be contaminated with foreign bodies. It has remained closed ever since, but the pump was restored in 1994. Carter's Well - stone inscription says 1856. Cast iron pump on Durham Road with spring handle and domed cap. On stone step. Spout above a stone dog trough. The well itself is on a lower level below Durham Road. Stone archway built into retaining wall of Durham Road. Stone inscription below arch says "Carter's Well 1856". Substantial vaulted space under Durham Road through springhead opening. Local residents have formed the "Friends of Carter's Well". They are hoping to secure funding to improve the setting of the well, develop a garden and seating area. Discussions are ongoing with Gateshead Council. LISTED GRADE 2

The earliest reference to the woods appears to be C12. Chopwell oaks were used at the castles of Norham, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh, and by the navy for shipbuilding. Large quantities of bark were supplied to the tanneries of Newcastle. Chopwell Woods were described by Ryan in his "History of Shotley Spa" as Crown lands, meaning land which was taken over by the Crown on the dissolution of the monasteries during the 1530s. Bourne suggested that the popular Ryton Ferry which ran from The Willows, originated from Cistercians at Morpeth who needed a crossing to administer their land at Chopwell. There was a monastic grange at Chopwell (HER 496). This valuable woodland was ministered for a time by the capable forester William Billington whose book "A Series of Facts, Hints and Observations and Experiments on Raising Young Plantations from Acorn Seedlings and Larger Plants", 1825, was no doubt extremely influential as it was subscribed to by many landowners such as Surtees who resided nearby at Hamsterley Hall. The woodland was deciduous at that time but is now mostly planted with conifers. The woods remain accessible through permission of the Forestry Authority.

A wreck of a small timber boat, probably a wherry, is visible in the River Team, close to the riverbank, at low tide. Substantial stone river walls survive in this area.

Shown on Ordnance Survey second edition. Presumably workers houses for the paper mill on the other side of the burn.

Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition map. Carried the road over the Beamish Burn. Urpeth Forge still survives next to the bridge on the Durham side, and is converted into a house. The bridge is stone built. The listing description reads:
'Bridge. Late C18. Coursed squared sandstone arch recessed under chamfered surround; band at road bed level. Chamfered coping to parapets terminating in short returns on pilasters.' LISTED GRADE 2

Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.

Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition. Would have given access to the workers living in cottages (HER 6968) to the Paper Mill on the Durham side of the river.

Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.

Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.

Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition. Would have given access to Middle Forge on Durham's side of the river.