Michelle

Barnard Castle – Deepdale – Low Crag – Cotherstone – Teesdale Way – Barnard Castle.

Sunny and warm – the forecasted shower between 4 and 5pm did not materialise.

Michelle, Michael, George, Ron, Sandy, Ashley, Bernie.

Carol - still grandmothering

Ken - injured knee

We viewed the new weir, opened summer 2014 on the Tees, with its state-of-the-art fish ladder. It was quite a hard walk, with a long ascent through the woods of Deepdale valley along a muddy and slippy path. There were lots of ups and downs over the whole walk, which almost seemed to be more uphill than downhill. There were a lot of fallen trees in the woods necessitating either a diversion or some clambering over tree trunks. We found a nice sheltered spot with a lot of warm sunshine in the woods for lunch. There was some tricky navigation through some of the farmland and several strange and complex gate closures. We passed a man painting a ship’s wheel in his back garden while his children played beside him. For reasons unknown, Ashley took a large number of photos of a stack of round hay bales. George was approached by a friendly brown sheep just outside Cotherstone.

We passed through the village of Cotherstone with its attractive stone houses and impressive parish church. Geraniums and other flowers were on display, and there was a pond with koi carp and a garage with a salmon wind vane. It was difficult to find the right path out of the village.

We were disappointed that we couldn't get closer to the river but we found a good spot for our second break. This overlooked the river and looked across to a steep bank of trees of various colours, although it was probably too early for the real autumnal colours. We passed a wooden house in a mixture of alpine and wild west styles, which had a tree-trunk-framed conservatory. Below it, two mechanical diggers were trying to dig a pond, possibly for wildlife.

The walk criss-crossed an old railway line in several places and we saw a derelict viaduct towards the end. we also spotted a strange stone outhouse with modern upvc windows and doors.

Wildlife/flora:

It was remarkably quiet for a walk through a Nature Reserve. However we did see the following: a green woodpecker, several jays, a heron, a buzzard, bluetits, pheasants and a wren. One rabbit and the usual selection of sheep, cows and calves. Clumps of fungi on the base of a tree.

Manor House Inn, Carterwayheads – excellent fare, especially the whale and chips. Both the red wine and the white wine were also excellent.

 October Walkers

Barnard Castle

Bridge

In the woods

Panorama

Cotherstone Church

Lunch

Weather vane

Pretty pond

Bird house

Excavations

Bales

All Walkers