| A holiday in a County Durham cottage offers the | | | | serving different parts of the site it is careful |
| chance to sample the varied natural and | | | | enough to avoid a romanticised view of the past. |
| man-made attractions of this lovely area. Without | | | | Another of the North’s mighty rivers, the |
| doubt the jewel in the crown of this county is the | | | | Tees, runs its course through County Durham. |
| city of Durham and the impressive cathedral | | | | Above the handsome market town of |
| which, together with the nearby castle, has been | | | | Middleton-in-Teesdale, where there is a good |
| a World Heritage site since 1987. Thought by | | | | choice of holiday cottages Durham Dales |
| many to be the finest example of Norman church | | | | attraction Cauldron Snout draws visitors. The river |
| architecture in England the cathedral dominates | | | | snarls its way over this natural feature, forming |
| the old city on a rocky peninsula where the Rive | | | | what is reckoned to be the longest waterfall in |
| Wear almost bends back on itself. | | | | England, only to cascade a few miles later over |
| Following the river upstream towards its source | | | | the aptly named High Force - one of the most |
| takes you to the bleak yet beautiful northern | | | | spectacular. |
| Pennines. This is a remote and sparsely populated | | | | Further downstream lies Barnard Castle, a market |
| area of moorland and dales, home to an industrial | | | | town with impressive old shop fronts, a cobbled |
| heritage of lead mines and quarries that will fill you | | | | market square and, just out of town, the French |
| with admiration for the people who worked here | | | | chateau-style Bowes Museum, home to a |
| in this uncompromising landscape. To appreciate | | | | collection of outstanding European fine and |
| fully the workings of a community in 19th century | | | | decorative arts including works by Goya, El Greco |
| Durham, visit the Beamish Open Air Museum. With | | | | and Canaletto. |
| guides in authentic period costume and trams | | | | |