By the close of the present decade Upper Weardale will be one of the nation's touchstone of rural renaissance.

At the beginning of the present decade the dale experienced the ravages associated with the foot-and-mouth epidemic against a backdrop of a declining economy and an ageing population.

By the end of the decade a new company and most importantly a new sense of vibrancy in the community will characterise Upper Weardale.

Upper Weardale will once again be a "working dale" but the nature of that work will have changed.

A diversified economy will have been built on the twin pillars of "Local Distinctiveness and Environmental Quality Branding".

The industrial heritage and physical landscapes of the dale will attract large numbers in organised walking, trekking, biking and climbing holidays. Eco-tourism will be a key driver of the economy.

The Ramblers' Association, and similar organisations, marketing in North America and Asia, will run guided tours across one of the UK's most varied and richly historical landscapes from Durham Cathedral to the heights of the Lake District, through the charm and hospitality of the North Pennines. The dale will be known for welcoming the global community.

LOCAL bed and breakfast establishments in Upper Weardale will offer local produce. Indeed, as in New England in the States, such establishments will be known throughout the land for competing as to which one provides the most innovative and enjoyable "local breakfast experience".

Regular farmers' markets will sell local organic produce to resident and visitor, Weardale cheese becomes much sought after in the foody shops of the London suburbs.

Based in and around the world heritage site of Durham, visitors from South East Asia will seek out the school of Mr Bean, one of their UK entertainment idols, and then be drawn to the land of his childhood and on to the dale.

A RANGE of 'focal points and branding attractions' will establish the dale as one of the most enjoyable engagements with the countryside that can be accessed in the UK.

Travelling on the Flying Scotsman from Shildon to Stanhope, visitors can then undertake walking or biking tours (some using the last section of the old railway, which is now a bike trail shrouded in the 235 species of daffodils that graced the dale, others ride on the C2C trail).

The old quarry at Eastgate is now a climbing school, boating lake, limestone nature reserve and garden centre, which entertains (and teaches) the whole family.

Teenagers prefer to scramble over to Rookhope to see what was the world's largest silver mine. Their parents are more interested in Rookhope, which was a great inspiration to the famous poet WH Auden.

The World Auden Society now often meets in Stanhope.

Others go on to Hamsterley Forest and try their luck on some of the best mountain bike trails in the UK.

Some are practising for Europe's mountain bike championships, which take place in the dale.

an uncompromising emphasis on conserving the beauty of the dale characterises all developments.

From ensuring that farmers and mountain bikes co-exist to mutual benefit, to local craft workers developing distinctive designs to building closed-circuit fish farms on the river (using the Korean 'flow grow' system that ensures that the wastes produced by the fish do not pollute the river), the importance of sustainable development is clear to all.

The astounding quality of life that characterises the dale also will attract many future residents.

Everybody in the dale was once an incomer. The new incomers bring not only a desire to purchase local produce, but also raise families and contribute to community life.

The need for a parish priest in Stanhope, once sadly left unaddressed, becomes urgent (the Bishop of Durham is delighted particularly given his desire to support a rural renaissance).

The economic community is also strengthened. The dale will see an increase in high-value-added working; specialised units, housing IT professionals (sitting adjacent to local artists) will be built, though some prefer home- working environments using the established broadband and satellite connections. Money not only comes into the area, it is also generated within the area.

underpinning the change in the economy will be a change in the prevailing culture and aspirations that characterise the communities of the dale.

A few hundreds of years ago, many from the dales and surrounding areas left to build the New World. This strength of purpose and determination once again finds expression in Upper Weardale.

Significant capacity building activities, from learning initiatives, to changes in the regulatory environment, underpinned a change in the culture of the dales.

Local village champions were particularly active and the youth committee was not the token gesture so feared by many, but a constructive and successful way in which growing numbers of young people sought to take up the challenge of the "on-going vision" for the area.

People make economies work, and the character of the dales people made a very special economy in 2010