Mike Laycock and family visit the spectacular waterfalls of Teesdale.

AS we made our way along the pretty woodland walk, we gradually became aware of a distant and muffled rumble. As we continued another couple of hundred yards, the rumble turned into an incessant roar. And then we saw it ... High Force - the highest unbroken fall of water in England.

Our family had travelled up to County Durham to spend a day out in picturesque Teesdale with my uncle, who lives locally. It was sunny and fairly warm, so he suggested going to see "the waterfalls". The biggest, High Force, is created as the River Tees suddenly drops 70 feet. A vertical wall of water enters a large and deep pool, creating a fine spray which drifts across to the rocks where visitors perch. It was spectacular enough the day we visited, but nothing compared to the raging torrent which hurtles over the edge after heavy rainfall on the Pennines.

We took some steep steps up to the top of the falls, where there are scenic views of the surrounding moorland and woodland, and my daughter Gabrielle was able to paddle.

We were getting hungry, and so we headed back up the quarter-mile path to the road, and then crossed to the High Force Hotel to enjoy some Cumberland sausage and chips.

My uncle then suggested we should head to another waterfall - a smaller, gentler one you could even walk behind with care.

We drove a few miles to Bowlees Visitor Centre, and then walked along a nature trail by the side of Bowlees Beck, surrounded by knapweed, cocksfoot, woodsage and butterwort, home to butterflies and dragonflies.

The beck goes over a series of waterfalls, the biggest of which is Summerhill Force, which cascades over Gibson's Cave at the end of the trail. Here, my son Matthew decided it was time to get wet and climbed along the back of the cave and behind the wall of water, taking care in the slippery and damp conditions. Then he went for a swim in the pool below, while the rest of us paddled. My only regret was that I hadn't brought my swimming shorts. It's a beautiful location, and one which my wife and I were sure we had seen before, in a scene from the recent Gwyneth Paltrow movie Possession. We then headed to the visitor centre for a cup of tea and to look round a modest exhibition about the local wildlife.

I had planned to end our day-out with something completely different - a visit to the Bowes Museum at nearby Barnard Castle. This French chateau-style building apparently houses one of the world's finest collections of paintings, furniture, ceramics and textiles from the 15th to late 19th centuries, as well as a 230-year-old life-size mechanical Silver Swan which actually bends its neck down and "eats" fish. But we had spent too long by the falls and the museum was only half an hour from closing. Not quite long enough. I think a return visit to Teesdale is called for.

Fact file

High Force: Open 10am to 5pm approx. Adults: £1. Children and concessions; 50p. Further information, call 01833 640209.

How to get there: From York, head straight up the A1 to Scotch Corner and then take the A66 to Bowes, before cutting across country to Middleton-in-Teesdale and then four miles along the B6277 to High Force.

Bowlees Visitor Centre: For information, call 01833 622292.

Updated: 08:56 Saturday, July 12, 2003