Friday 30th July
This morning we enjoyed a local circular walk of four miles, from Spofforth via Stockeld Park to Sicklinghall and back across the fields to Spofforth castle.


We stopped for lunch at about half way round the route, by the village pond in Sicklinghall.

Saturday 24th July
This morning we walked up to the castle in Barnard Castle, which is very extensive.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/barnard-castle/

We explored the various areas and were able to walk through the buildings and to the top of this round tower, built by Richard III.

The view of the river from the castle walls is stunning.

We drove further up the valley to Middleton-in-Teesdale, admiring the views, on a lovely clear day.

At Middleton we discovered a scarecrow trail that is part of the local summer festival.

Friday 23rd July
This morning we drove up to Barnard Castle, which is a lovely old market town with wide streets. It has lots of interesting and deep antique shops as well as many small local businesses.


We spent an hour in the library adding to Glenys's family history research before driving further up Teesdale to Romaldkirk. It is a very smart village built around three large greens.


The village church is surprisingly large and is known as 'The Cathedral of the Dales'.

We searched the graveyard looking for family names and discovered many dating from the eighteenth century.

We drove up Baldersdale, past Hunderthwaite Farm where some family members had lived. Much of the valley has been flooded to form reservoirs.

This is Water Knott, once a family farm, that is situated by the dam forming Balderhead Reservoir.

This is the view from the dam, down Baldersdale, showing Blackton and Hury reservoirs.

Saturday July 10th
This is our first proper outing since Alan had his hernia operation in June. We walked the three and a half miles around Fewston Reservoir on a glorious sunny day. As you can see from the photograph, the water level is lower than usual. There were flowers everywhere and their scent was glorious. We saw half a dozen cormorants, the usual ducks and lots of Canada Geese.