Jo’s Monday walk : Cotherstone and the Teesdale Way

If you saw my shabby summerhouse last week, you’ll know that I’m a fan of the Open Garden scheme.  Sometimes it throws up a real jewel.  It’s a bit of a bus man’s holiday for my husband, but you can always get him to go and look at a garden.  Me, I’m just happy to go somewhere new.  Not that Cotherstone is new, exactly.  We’ve driven by this village en route to Teesdale and the falls beyond, and scarcely noticed it.  Discovering that the whole village opened its gardens for charity gave us a golden opportunity to explore.

Map in hand, off we went!  There were 15 or more gardens to delight in.  You’ll note that we didn’t get very far before the coffee stop, but we’d had a longish drive from home.  Looking over the garden wall of The Limes was just too tempting. (and the homemade rhubarb slice was tart and delicious!)  A perfect summer’s day, it was easy to sit in the sunshine and smile at the super keen youngsters of the household.  They were Sunday smart and performing waiting duties, with impeccable manners.

When I did stir myself, I was gifted a fine zucchini plant, much to my astonishment.  Never having mothered such a specimen before, I was a little anxious for its survival, but I’m happy to report that it has since thrived.

The Methodist Chapel was open and I paused long enough to admire the stained glass, and wonder briefly if I should turn my talents to rug making?  Back into the sunshine, I dodged a fearsome looking farm machine, before dipping into another garden.

Each garden had its own character.  Some manicured to within an inch of their life, others far more casual; one devoted to recycled goods, another fragrant with a nosegay of sweetpeas.  Their common factor?  A gardener with a smile, and time to chat.

Midway through the village a narrow lane led down towards a river I hadn’t even realised was there.  I was about to meet the River Balder, which joins the Tees at this point.  On the far shore, a river beach, perfectly sited for cooling tired feet.

It’s an enchanted piece of woodland, leaves dancing in dappled shade over russet waters.  The moss covered bridge must surely have been there in Merlin’s time.  I followed the Teesdale Way just far enough to satisfy my curiosity, and then retraced my steps.  A steep clamber up a stepped path brought us to the top of the village, and what was probably my favourite garden, Glensleigh.  Beautifully terraced, the views were far reaching, and the lovely Norwegian owner didn’t seem to mind in the least that a public right of way ran right through her garden.

A bee-keeping demonstration next, the lady keeper, outfitted like a spaceman, fearlessly handling the honeycomb.  A glance over the allotment walls- time is pressing on!  I’ve lost count of the number of gardens we’ve seen.

Back on the main street, we were offered a celebratory prosecco, and took 10 minutes to admire the owner’s beautifully presented patio.  I can’t say that this is common practise at Open Gardens, but it was very much appreciated on a warm day.

On the village green children were dangling toes in the stream and eating icecreams.  Just a few more visits.  Opposite the magnificent church an aged gentleman sat on a bench in his lovely small patch and exchanged pleasantries.  He’d never left his home county.  ‘Why would he?’ his gentle smile seemed to say.  In the stream at the bottom of his garden, two American crayfish seemed content to end their wanderings too.  Wouldn’t you?

While looking for a few facts about Cotherstone, I came upon this 6 mile circular walk from the Fox and Hounds at West Green.  It covers some of our outing today.  Next time I’ll go looking for the ‘fairy cupboards’.

Apologies to anyone whose walk I haven’t included here today.  I’ve scheduled the post because I’m up on the Northumbrian coast for our anniversary, and I haven’t got my laptop.  They’ll appear in next week’s walk- promise!  Meanwhile, please do read and enjoy….

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My nautical friend, Drake, shares a mutual passion – water!

Sailing

I can’t keep up with Jackie!  Can you?  Wonder what’s to eat?

Bed and Breakfast

How about Niagara, looking floral and lovely, with Alice :

Floral clock, Niagara Parks

Some very personal memories shared by Artfulinguist :

A UVic Stroll Down Memory Lane

Not something I associate with beautiful Norway, but Rupali has set me straight :

A tour to Norwegian cherry farm

Nowhere better than our very own Lake District, with Melodie :

Randonnee/Hike Nether Wasdale

I’m home at teatime (earlier if the weather misbehaves too badly  🙂  ) so I’ll catch up with you all then, if not sooner.  Have a great week!

123 comments

    1. It was so unexpected, Eunice! I could hear laughter as we descended into the valley and there were a group of families enjoying themselves splashing about. 🙂 🙂 Thanks, darlin!

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      1. I didn’t have time to post a walk this week, though on Saturday I did go 100ft up in the air via the hydraulic arm on a fire engine! 🙂 🙂

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      2. That sounds fun! I expect there’ll be a post I can catch up with? I didn’t get back from Northumberland till yesterday afternoon so I’m not quite living in the present yet, if you know what i mean. 🙂 🙂

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      3. Yes, it was fun and I got some great photos while I was up there. I’ll do a post about it soon but at the moment I’m living through a chainsaw massacre – I think that’s probably another post too! 🙂

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    1. It has been amazing, Gilda, though a lot of people were starting to find it tiresome. We were in Northumberland at the weekend, where we were assured that their summer never goes beyond mid-August. Seems to be true because it rained for 2 days 🙂 🙂 I’m still happy! Thank you!

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  14. What a fantastic drive Jo – the gardens were beautiful. Loved the walkway/pathway surrounded by the moss-grown stone walls. This was my kind of day and it shows that you really enjoyed your time visiting all the gardens.

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  16. What a delightful post, Jo! We enjoyed a similar open garden opportunity some years ago in Louisville, Kentucky. The gardens weren’t this large, as they were all gardens in the city, but they were wonderfully diverse and beautiful. Thanks for the memories as well as allowing me to see some of the beauty you experienced.

    Here’s my walk for the week: https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2018/08/13/monday-walk-the-first-lake/

    janet

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  17. I adore ioen gardens and jump at the opportunity to meander through other people’s gardens and well tended beds of flowers and the like. It is such fun to see how different they all are much like stepping into little paintings with different artists. Ooh AND rhubarb pie! That’s a good day! Gorgeous photos -very enticing !
    Peta

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  18. I love it when an entire village opens its gardens up, like Ludlow does. Where you can potter all day without going very far. Not a lot of that down here and most of the gardens open for the NGS are an hour’s drive for me. But there are one or two closer that open this month. As for that American crayfish you should have boiled and eaten it! They were introduced in the 1970s “… for export to the lucrative Scandinavian market. The crayfish plague had ravaged native crayfish populations in Europe and it was seen as an attractive commercial species. Unfortunately it is a carrier of crayfish plague and is thought to be responsible for passing the deadly disease to the native white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) in the UK.” Another case of introducing species that become the problem and not the cure!

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    1. I was aware that he was an intruder and not welcome on these shores but they live in the old guy’s garden. What’s a person to do? Will answer your other comments when I put the laptop on in a while. Just home and sorting myself out 😃😃

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