Travelling abroad for holidays often makes me think how small the UK is. But it's not really. A trip to Barnard Castle in County Durham for New Year with a whole bunch of family brought it home to me. For a start there's the getting there. It's a bloody long way. 304 miles to be precise the way went which keeping (roughly) to speed limits and allowing for a stop or two, took us around about 6 hours. Unlike the rest of my family, I always enjoy the "getting there" aspect of any trip. Despite being behind the wheel, I always find it interesting to go to (or past) places I've rarely/never been or only read about or seen on TV/film/social media (delete as applicable). County Durham, and indeed a lot north of Birmingham is relatively unfamiliar territory for me so signs to York, Ripon, Harrogate, Wensleydale (and even Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham) make me wonder what these places are like (I've actually been to Harrogate a couple of times, but not the other places).
Anyway, we got safely to our lodgings adjacent to a livery stable in Barnard Castle and unloaded for a couple of days chilling with family.
On New Year's Eve, wanting to make the most of our trip we ventured out - eventually. Have you any idea how difficult it is to corral 17 people and 6 dogs to leave (and arrive at a designated place) at the same time!
We drove a few miles into wilder country to High Force waterfall on the Tees river. One of the most impressive waterfalls in England, it was certainly in fully flow when it appeared out of the trees on the well maintained short path to it from the car park.
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| Countryside near High Force, County Durham |
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| High Force waterfall from the path |
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| The walk to High Force |
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| Myself and my good lady at High Force |
It's an impressive site as you at first hear the waterfall as the path winds round and then comes into view, the river Tees plunging 70 feet into the pool below. I've seen some waterfalls in the Welsh valleys, but this is a step up on them (with apologies to my Welsh family and friends!). The river then continues downstream, the water dark and brooding, even if not very deep. We retraced our steps, and then took a walk slightly downstream, across a bridge and back up the other side of the valley to get close and personal with the falls from the top.
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| The Tees downstream of High Force |
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| High Force from the far side of the valley. |
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| The Tees just before it plunges over High Force |
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| A little bit of artistic licence as the Tees starts its plunge down |
We were lucky that the light was good, the river was in full flow to see this most impressive waterfall.
After our walk we had a quick refreshment stop at the High Force Inn by the car park (you actually have to pay to go down to the falls - tickets available at the hotel, but it's only a couple of quid, and worth it for the well maintained track and safety fencing).
After refreshing ourselves we drove back and had a very quick stop in Barnard Castle. The castle itself was closed, but again, a mightily impressive site sitting on the banks of the Tees in the evening sun.
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| The bridge over the Tees at Barnard Castle |
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| Barnard Castle itself |
I suppose the point of this blog, aside of sharing some phots of an impressive waterfall, is to reinforce that we live in a country with some wonderful areas of outstanding natural and historical beauty. There are many, many places in the UK that I've never been in my 60 years on this planet, and although it 'feels' like this was a long trip, in the grand context of someone who normally travels abroad at least once a year, it's not. We have a whole lot on our doorstep, and there's plenty to choose from. I'd certainly like to go back to this part of the country and spend longer exploring. And I've got family who live barely 45 minutes from there, so it's not as if I have an excuse!
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