High Force waterfall

In the quest to get some good piccys in the portfolio, last week Kelly and me jumped in the Aygo and headed off towards the biggest waterfall in Durham (I think), High Force.  About 12 miles outside Barnard Castle which itself is a lovely place.  Always thought I'd love to be the Beat Bobby there a few years before I retire but hey ho, that's a long way away.
 Landed in the car park, £1.50 to park and £2 each to get to the falls.  But we saw the pub called High Force Hotel and thought we'd have lunch first.  Went into the pub and it didn't flick our switch to be honest.  For a start, Kelly, she loves her grub but is quite fussy about what she eats.  Nothing caught her eye on the menu so that's a non starter as far as food goes, so we had a quick Coke and buggered off to have a look at the falls.  It did look a nice cosy pub and a good one in the winter after a walk, but not that day. 

We gave our tickets to the woman in the wooden hut and headed off down the track heading for the falls.  The track was a bit dark which I think pee'd Kelly off as there were some cheeky shots to be had, but the light was not playing.  Anyway we reached the bottom and was greeted by a shed load of people.  The falls were quite impressive and the noise of the water was deafening, I didn't realise it was so big (ooo err).  But we had dropped into the river basin and the light had got worse.  I'd brought the tripod for some cheeky slow shutter stuff but Kelly told me to keep it in my bag for another day.  The base of the falls is littered with small boulder's which Kelly tried to negotiate with her high heeled DocMartin boots but had to squeeze my hand till it went blue to get across.  So with a slightly numb hand we reached the river and she found her shot (above).  But even I thought the light was failing, and as it is quite close to our house we decided we'd come back another day , maybe late spring.  So I helped Bambi on Ice back to Terra Firma and we headed off back to the car.  We hoyed our butties down our necks and set off home, via Woodham to see Bruce the enormous German Shepherd a hug and go home for drinkies and takeaway. 

I like water falls and i was impressed by the drop and the actual volume of water being cascaded off the top.  I've always liked water and the effect it has on us and the environment, in fact i should've joined the Navy instead of the Army and set to sea.  As you can see it's a great place but like everything in our beautiful country, the weather takes the micky and you have to be at the right place, right time.  For those who care, on route to the the falls there are a couple of info boards explaining the rock formation, which is interesting to Laymen, as well as someone in the know.  I love that part of Co. Durham and it's thanks to Kelly i have privilege to see it.