THINK of foraging and the first thing that springs to mind is a trip into Britain’s green and pleasant countryside.

Woods, open fields and moorland, river banks, hedgerows and winding country lanes… these are the places that people normally associate with grubbing around for free food.

It would be safe to assume that the maze of roads, streets and modern housing developments that make up Washington just a stone’s throw from the city of Sunderland, wouldn’t feature on anyone’s top 10 foraging hotspots.

But it is to this unpromising urban sprawl that wild food expert Rob Caton has decided to head to self-gather – with a little help – a selection of late summer ingredients.

His chosen location is not a polluted roadside verge, however, but the far more picturesque and historic Washington Old Hall, the ancestral home of the first president of the United States.

The National Trust-run property in Washington Village, as the original settlement was renamed when the new town came into being in 1964, is less than a minute’s drive from the modern houses and wide roads that replaced the streets of old miners’ cottages and pit heaps.

Yet on a warm and sunny early September morning it is an oasis of tranquility. But as far as foraging goes, Washington Old Hall still doesn’t appear to tick any boxes.

At around 2.5 acres in size, the hall’s garden (which is free to visit from Sunday to Wednesday until October 30) is one of the National Trust’s smaller and cosier. There are no sweeping vistas, winding paths, woods or wide open spaces.

Instead you have a sunny south facing terrace backed by the house famously clad in Boston Ivy that is just beginning to take on its fiery purplish red autumnal hue, a nuttery and a small ornamental flower garden.

Not the sort of place you expect to do much foraging. But that is precisely why Rob, who runs Byrness-based outdoor adventure provider, Wildharmony, has chosen the old hall, which dates back in parts to 1250.

He is keen to dispel the myth that you need to head for the hills to ferret for free ingredients. Indeed, he says suburbia is home to a surprising array of wild foods, most of which are regarded as weeds but are never-the-less edible, tasty, nutritious and best of all in these straitened economic times cost no more than the time needed to pick them.

It’s not all plain sailing. Urban foraging has its drawbacks, not least the risk of eating more than you bargained for. “Pollutants are a real problem – car fumes, chemicals, weed killers, effluent, dogs,” Rob explains. “As a rule I never forage within four metres of a road, unless it’s a little used country lane, and you have to keep your wits about you.

“But foraging from urban gardens is safer, easy and very rewarding. They are bursting with free produce.”

Rob’s mission for the day aided by Melanie Clarke, Washington’s events and operations coordinator, and Ellaine Hush, the wildlife gardener, is to put together a chickweed salad.

Chickweed, so called because hens love it, is the scourge of gardeners everywhere – town or country. It grows prolifically virtually all year round and is normally the first weed to end up on the compost heap.

It’s available nearly all year round and with the salad crop season all but over it really comes into its own now with autumn approaching.

Rob heads for the nuttery, a meadow planted with hazels and almonds, as the search begins for the key salad ingredients: chickweed, hazelnuts (with 30 trees to choose from there’s no problem on that score; the branches are dripping with the ripening nuts) and apples.

The apple is the first component to be found, growing on a tree in the parterre. While Ellaine and Rob hunt for the chickweed, Melanie picks a good handful of the hazels and gathers some juicy blackberries.

Of the chickweed there is no sign, however. Twenty minutes later and it has been ascertained there is none in the whole garden. “Blimey, the National Trust gardeners must do a good job,” Rob jokes. The search is widened to take in the neighbouring church. It is as Rob and Melanie are hunting around the grave stones that Ellaine gives a whoop of joy. In a flowerbed just yards from the hall’s entrance she’s found handfuls of it.

Back in the nuttery Rob fires up his camping stove while Ellaine and Melanie chop apples, crack and crush hazelnuts and thoroughly wash the chickweed. In to a pan go the apples and hazelnuts while a handful of raisins soak in hot water.

Within minutes Rob has rustled up a hot salad. Melanie is the first to tentatively try it. “It tastes just the way it looks,” she says. “Mild, gentle and very green. It’s something I could do easily at home – I’ve definitely got enough chickweed of my own!”

Ellaine is no less enthusiastic. “It tastes really clean and fresh.”

Proof, as Rob concludes, that suburbia’s open spaces and gardens are stuffed with healthy, flavoursome wild food – if you know what to look for.

Visit www.wildharmony.co.uk

For more information on the National Trust go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Washington Old Hall, The Avenue, Washington Village, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 7LE, 0191 416 6789, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/northeast

Washington Old Hall will be holding its popular free food festival tomorrow (September 17). Now in its fourth year, Good Food & More will feature a selection of food and craft stalls in the grounds, including brewers Delavals which this summer launched Washington Old Hall Honey Beer using nectar from the property’s own hives. The fair will run from 11am-4pm.

Forage as far away from roads and polluted spots as possible

Be aware of the environment you are foraging in. Is there a possibility food may be contaminated by car fumes, chemicals, dogs or effluent? Look out for foul water and signs of chemical use

Make sure you thoroughly wash everything before eating to get rid of possible pollutants

Avoid anything that looks dead or dying. It could be that it has been sprayed with chemical or that the ground is contaminated

Never go into anyone's garden or on to private property without the owner's permission

If you find a good, safe foraging spot, don't over-harvest. Learn to manage it so the plants are regularly available to be picked

See more tips online at www.journallive.co.uk/taste

1-2 handfuls chickweed, well washed

1 apple, diced

Handful of crushed hazelnuts

Tablespoon raisins, soaked in hot water

Pinch of cinnamon

Little butter or oil for cooking

Ingredients:

Soak the raisins or sultanas in hot water for about 10 minutes. Heat the butter or oil in a pan and gently warm the diced apple and crushed hazelnuts. Add a pinch of cinnamon.

Put the well washed chickweed in a bowl, drain the raisins and add.

Add the apple pieces, crushed hazelnuts and juices from the pan and mix well together. Serve with wild black rice or couscous.