What is "teesdale"

Teesdale was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council was based in Barnard Castle and it was named after the valley of the River Tees.

That part of the district south of the River Tees is historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and made up Startforth Rural District before the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect in 1974. The other predecessors to the district were Barnard Castle urban district and Barnard Castle Rural District.

Much of the area had before 1894 constituted a single Teesdale rural sanitary district.

The district was the least populous ordinary district in England, with only the City of London and the Isles of Scilly being smaller. It had the second lowest population density in England, after Eden, Cumbria.

The district was abolished as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.

Teesdale is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, England. Large parts of Teesdale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ( AONB) - the second largest AONB in England and Wales. The River Tees rises below Cross Fell, the highest hill (2,930 feet O.D.) in the Pennines, and its uppermost valley is remote and high. The local climate was scientifically classified as "Sub-Arctic" and snow has sometimes lain on Cross Fell into June (there is an alpine ski area Yad Moss).