IT was lovely weather for ducks yesterday where showers added to the excitement of a village fun weekend.

Residents of Cotherstone, in Teesdale, traditionally round off their carnival celebrations with a duck race on the River Tees, where rain swelled the current to produce a high speed contest won by Norman Webb.

The Rowan Pipe Band led Saturday's procession from the Fox and Hounds with the carnival queen, 12-year-old Shona Dickson, and her attendants, Amy Metcalfe and Cherie Sowerby.

Steven Bainbridge and Trevor Cooper won Friday night's quoits competition.

Over the weekend there was welly throwing, balloon modelling, football and sports, with events rounding off tonight with a cricket match at Barnard Castle Cricket Club between the hosts and a Fox and Hounds International Select XI, starting at 6.30pm.

Jenny Watson, from the fun weekend committee, said: "Everything went very well despite the weather, and we managed to run everything we had planned.

"The rain meant the river was very full for the duck race, so it went very quickly. There was a good crowd."