A visit to County Durham. 11th- 13th August 2023

 I have been here before but it was a matter of just passing through whilst on backpacking trips. It just happened to be raining today and it had also rained all night, so what is the best thing to see after heavy rain?,  a splendid waterfall.

It was a bit of a shock having to pay for parking and pay to see the falls as well, however I have to say that it wasn't a rip off. 

The falls were High Force at Middleton in Teesdale.

A good well maintained path leads down to the fall and today with all the rain we could hear it before it came into sight. Not many people were around as there would be if the weather had been fine. Wonder-fall.

We spent about 1/2 hour down at the fall and returned via a pleasant woodland walk spotting numerous wood carvings and fungi as we went. Unfortunately many fungi close to the path had been destroyed by someones boot but we looked off the path and found some surprises.

This was one of the biggest fungi I have seen. Probably about 10" across. (25.4cm)

Back at the car we joined the queue for ice cream. The car park was now quite busy. 

It was still raining and many folk including us sheltered under the adjacent trees enjoying our ices.

Decision time! What do we do in the rain? Go to the pub of course. So off we went. We ended up in the Copper Mine in Crook. A nice food pub with cask ales including a stout. It was busy, in fact very busy but the nice staff found us a table where we enjoyed the Consett beers and excellent grub.

After a very pleasant afternoon it was a quick trip back to our Air B and B for a wash and change of clothes before heading to the Kynren. What's a Kynren I can hear you say. Well it's a show played in the outdoors about the history of England and it is absolutely brilliant. I can only advise you to go and see it. But here below are a few photos of the event.

The show was first class as was the organisation from all the volunteers. From first arriving until getting back out of the venue car park it was perfect. The show itself lasts 90 minutes but there is plenty to do in the show ground itself prior to the doors opening.  Well worth a visit.

The following morning we headed off to see the Bishop. Well the Bishops castle to be precise. Having paid the tenner to go in and do the tour in my opinion it isn't a castle. It is closer to a Bishops Palace.

Once again the organisation and the volunteers were very very good.

I enjoyed the trip round the castle but I was a little disappointed that so much of it had been either modernised or hidden out of public view. I really wanted to see some original features and although much of the chapel woodwork is original you do have to search out the rest.

Back in Bishop Aukland town centre we had a quick trip up the tower which was good for 10 minutes and then a walk around the streets showed just how bad the effect of the economy is having with many shops and hostelries closed and boarded up. Such a shame for a lovely town centre.

We got back to the car just before this cloud decided to drop it's contents.

Well that was our short trip to County Durham. It was worth it as I can now understand every third word that the locals say. innitt. There is lots to do here and hopefully it won't be too long before we return.

Thanks County Durham.