Todays walk of 7.2 miles started in a very civilised fashion with a coffee in the cafe in Eggleston Hall Gardens.

Leaving the gardens, we passed Eggleston Hall and proceeded south down the road to Eggleston Bridge and turned East onto the Teesdale Way. We continued on the North side of the River Tees, climbing many steps through the woods filed with wild garlic and the occasional clump of bluebells. Crossing fields with sheep and several cute lambs we saw a farmer and his dog at work rounding up his sheep. We stopped, just before we entered a field of cows and bullocks, to take photos and admire the panoramic views up Teesdale.

We followed a track through gorse bushes down to Marwood Caravan Park before crossing the bridges over the Tees and then River Balder where we saw two fly fishermen. The path took us to the Fox and Hounds public house, Cotherstone village, where some of us sampled Cotherstone bitter along with our sandwiches.

After lunch, we retraced our steps to cross the River Balder and headed West on the South side of the Tees along the Teesdale way to Romaldkirk, passing Woodencroft where we took shelter from the rain in a barn and watched the antics of 3 guinea fowl. We walked through the pretty village of Romaldkirk, across Beer Beck, saw views of Eggleston Hall, crossed Eggleston Bridge, back up to the gardens, passing a small waterfall.

We finally arrived back at the cafe where we indulged in pieces of the beautifully presented cakes available (well it would have been rude not to). The twelve walkers maintained a very respectable average pace of 2.4 miles per hour, despite the numerous stiles we had to clamber over, and multiple undulations.

Author - Sue M

Photos - Sue F, John S