We had only one optimistic taker for this Sunday walk by midweek so I was envisioning an intimate little wet hike à trois but the weather forecast improved dramatically by Sunday morning and our number had swelled to 8 hardy souls. Cabin fever had broken out and at the first sign of a pause in the deluge the intrepid members of the SOC Walking Group were up to the challenge. I had chosen this route for its relative simplicity as a potential walk for the Walking and Book Festival in September and had looked to stick to more well-developed paths for the potential paying public and this proved to be a good plan. Graham Moss assured me, correctly, that the Old Tees Railway would be relatively easy underfoot despite the recent rain and also proved to afford lovely open vistas of the landscape. The halfway point was a visit to the historic Eggleston Hall Garden. The garden was not at its best, being end of January, but is obviously a lovely place to visit once the horticultural season gets underway. A promising-looking café is open too, once the spring arrives. We took the Tees Valley Trail back to Cotherstone which was a little more challenging in the mud and stile departments but the winter sun continued to shine and a very nice day was had by all. Thank you also to local lad, Graham Moss, for taking us ever so slightly off piste to the Percy Mire Lookout for wonderful view over the Tees Valley. We ended the walk back by the riverside at Cotherstone at the foot of the ancient ruin that is Cotherstone Castle. For those with energy to spare there is an optional climb up to said ruin that looks to be about 200 steps, remarkably there were no takers on the day! The photo shows the snowdrops in full bloom in the ancient graveyard of the Medieval church ruin at Eggleston Garden - a little gem of peace and tranquility. Jane McLennan