THE landscape and working life of a rural part of the area has been captured on video by a local filmmaker.

Beautiful Teesdale... a Country Lad at Home has been filmed and produced by Cotherstone filmmaker David Rabbitts.

The video, which is the fourth to be made by Mr Rabbitts, aims to show the delicate balance between the working life of Teesdale, County Durham, and its beauty.

Mr Rabbitts said: "I was aware when I finished my last video, Sights and Sounds of Teesdale that I had focused mainly on the wildlife and the plants.

"In this one, I wanted to show the dale as a living thing where people live and work."

As well as focusing on some of the wildlife of the dale, such as the sparrowhawk, the video also includes items on local farmers who have diversified.

These include the manufacturers of Cotherstone Cheese, Lawrence Staley, a dry-stone waller who also engraves glass, and Trevor Dixon, who manufactures miniature dry-stone walls.

Mr Rabbitts, who used to run a milk business, moved to Teesdale in 1946 and took six years to complete the video.

He said: "It is something I do for love, not for the money. One of the things I really like is that people have shown enough trust in me to let me film them."

The video can be bought at the Teesdale Mercury Shop, in Barnard Castle, Middleton-in-Teesdale Tourist Information Centre, or by calling (01833) 650384.

It costs £13.99 for video, and £14.99 for DVD.