It was a certain Black Labradors 7th birthday at the weekend. Hugo enjoys opening his own presents. Tearing off the wrapping paper and shredding it into little pieces is all part of the fun. 🙂
To avoid the Bank Holiday crowds on Saturday we headed over the border into County Durham , another county within half an hour’s drive from the caravan.
Our first destination was Cow Green Reservoir , the water of which shone a stunning topaz blue. From here we walked to the nearby Cauldron Snout Cascade, one of the longest waterfalls in England. There were a few walkers doing the Pennine Way, but mostly we had the place to ourselves.
After eating a picnic lunch looking out over the water we decided to drive to nearby Killhope Lead Mining Museum in Upper Weardale. We didn’t do the underground mine tour but did spend a good couple of hours exploring the overground.
Up until the 12th of September there are five large billboards to find outdoors, as part of The Architect Of Ruins Exhibition by Steve Messam. They look particularly striking against the rural/industrial backdrop. I was also delighted to see several Red Squirrels from the Hide in the Woodland. Dogs are welcome at Killhope and the attraction is currently free!
On Sunday we headed to Allonby , a favourite beach of ours for walks with Hugo. On the way we called in at a farm that had opened their Sunflower 🌻 field up for charity. It was amazing to see all those golden flower heads waving in the breeze.
Before we set off home on Monday we took Hugo for a walk in the grounds of Acorn Bank at nearby Temple Sowerby. The gardens, grounds and water mill are open to the public and owned by the National Trust. There are some lovely Woodland walks here, perfect for wildlife spotting and walking the hound. 🙂
It was a bit of an action packed bank holiday weekend. Hopefully Hugo enjoyed his birthday. And thank you to my wonderful other half for driving. He’s definitely a good un. 😁
sunshine and celandines 
Belated happy birthday, Hugo. You are a blog star.
Red Squirrels — lucky you.
Hugo says Thank you! Well maybe not, he’s having an afternoon nap and snoring away. 🙂 The Red Squirrels were a bonus , don’t get to see any very often.
How wonderful to see the sunflowers.
It was lovely. I think Monday was the last day though.
Another wonderful trip, your photos say so! You have been so lucky with the weather for your outings. You’re having a great year of outings. Feet up soon? Have a great September. Oh, and belated birthday wishes to Hugo 🎂
Thank you. Don’t think we have much planned in September….yet. 🙂
Thankyou for bringing back memories of Acorn Bank! I used to go there with my parents as it was one of their favourite places to visit in the Eden Valley.
Oh lovely, yeah it’s a great place to visit. We only discovered it just before the pandemic and it’s recently reopened so hopefully will go back more for walks now.
Happy birthday that boy!🐾🍰 and those sunflowers are GORGOUS!
Thank you Kate.
Yep it was a treat to see so many together. X
Hugo is having fun! Happy birthday to a very good boy. The sunflowers are amazing. We went to Killhope a few years ago and did the mine tour. It’s very wet, so not a great time for my friend to discover her wellies leaked.
There was a sign saying Wellies To Be Worn on the tour , your poor friend. I will have to check out your blog for posts on St Abbs and Eyemoth, have a couple of nights booked nearby there in October. X
Oh lovely! There are a lot of posts about the area. We really enjoyed our time there.
Oh good, I will take a look and refresh my memory. X
Looks like a fun filled weekend & birthday wishes to Hugo. I’m able to get wordpress blogs up again & comment, so I should be back reading again & commenting. Acorn Bank looks a lovely garden & glad you enjoyed being away at the caravan. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs.
Glad to hear your back Susan. 🙂
It all looks fabulous. Sunflower fields certainly seem to have become a ‘thing’ this year … can’t say I’ve really noticed them in this country before … and I certainly know what you mean about Bank Holidays … we don’t normally venture far on those either and much prefer visiting places when they are quiet 🤫
It was the first Sunflower film that I had seen, such a great idea too. 🙂
Ahh happy birthday Hugo! Looks like lovely adventures! 😄
I think he had a good time. 😁
What a lovely way to spend the Bank Holiday, love the field of sunflowers and the red squirrel is very cute, we only have big, brash grey squirrels here but there are still red squirrels where my parents live. Happy birthday to Hugo! X
We have the Greys here in Clitheroe too, I like them, just glad we don’t have the reds and Greys in the same place, that’s when things get difficult. X
Lovely photos, especially the sunflowers! 🌻
Thank you, they were a treat to see. 🙂
What wonderful places to visit. We’ve had a couple of sunflower farms spring up locally this year.
They are a lovely sight to see. 🙂
Looks like all had a great time, lovely photos x
I enjoyed the pics/post. Hugo is one lucky dog!
Thanks Alison. X
Belated Birthday wishes Hugo! And a wonderful weekend all round. X
Thanks Jules! It was lovely. X
A belated happy birthday to Hugo. What a gorgeous day for his celebrations. I love the sunflower field. A solitary sunflower appeared in my garden this year. I can only think that the seed was blown in from some other garden, or dropped by a bird. It grew to about 3 metres tall and eventually collapsed under the weight of the flowers, even though I supported it. It was a lovely surprise, but far too big for my tiny patch.
Oh wow, that is a nice surprise. So funny when that happens. 🙂 X