A COUPLE open the gates to their three-acre cottage garden with a railway theme added to the attractive surroundings on Bank Holiday Monday.
Christine and Mike Liddle have lived at Birkheads, in countryside north of Stanley, County Durham, for a quarter of a century.
Mainly thanks to Christine's keen horticultural interests the gardens have flourished in rec-ent years, with the help of Mike and gardener Peter Heaney.
The couple run a nursery business at Birkheads, selling a range of plants, and have been included on the growing list of private gardens which open to the public to raise funds for the British Red Cross.
The finishing touches are being added to a theme garden to reflect the railway heritage of the area.
It stands a mile from the Tanfield Railway attraction run by steam enthusiasts through the nearby Causey Woods.
Christine, a garden designer, said: "The house was apparently built for the engineer of the Bowes Railway, sometime between 1820 and 1830.
Birkheads, between the Causey Arch and Tanfield Railway, off the A6076 Causey Road, will open between 2pm and 5pm on Monday.
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