Wild Spectacle of the Upper Tees Valley

Geology, Birdlife and Rare Flowers in the North Pennines

Mar 4, 2009 Anthony Toole

Upper Teesdale may be only a small area of County Durham, yet packed within it are several magnificent scenic set pieces, standing against a wild mountain backdrop.

These cannot, in the main, be readily seen from the roadside, but the necessary walks are relatively short and not strenuous, though strong footwear is required.

The best starting point is Bowlees Visitor Centre. This is owned by Durham Wildlife Trust and has displays illustrating the geology and wildlife of Upper Teesdale.

Low Force

A footpath across a field opposite the centre brings one to the wooded river bank, where the peat-brown water crashes noisily over the boulders of Low Force. The rock here and throughout Upper Teesdale is part of the Great Whin Sill, a volcanic band that forced its way through the sandstone and limestone around 295 million years ago, and is exposed at various places in north-east England.

Holwick Scar

A more impressive view of the Whin Sill dolerite can be seen by crossing the suspension bridge and continuing on the footpath uphill through fields for half-a-mile. Rising above a shallow valley are the crags of Holwick Scar. The vertical columnar structure of the crags is the same as that on the other Whin Sill outcrop in Northumberland, which marks the line of Hadrian’s Wall. Similar geological structures exist at Fingal’s Cave in Scotland and the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

High Force

Instead of walking up the hill, one could follow the level footpath along the river bank for a mile-and-a-half to High Force, which will be heard long before it can be seen. Here, the river, which hitherto flows quietly along the valley floor, plunges suddenly over a twenty-metre drop. This is not England’s highest waterfall, but is almost certainly its most voluminous. High Force can also be reached by a shorter walk from the hotel on the road above, but an entrance fee is required.

Cow Green

Less than three miles by road from High Force is Langdon Beck, from which a subsidiary road leads to the shore of Cow Green Reservoir, and the Moorhouse-Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve, one of the largest in England. Straddling the Cumbria-Durham border, this bleakly beautiful lake was formed by damming the Tees in the 1960s, to provide water for the heavy industries of Teesside. Its creation led to controversy, as its waters inundated 312 hectares of scientifically important habitats, containing rare plants found at few other places in the British Isles.

The Teesdale Assemblage

The flowers found here comprise a unique mix of Alpine and Arctic species that have survived since the last Ice Age. They include mountain pansies, spring sandwort, rock rose and dog violet. The boggy ground encourages sphagnum mosses and the insectivorous butterwort and sundew. The rare, deep blue spring gentian is found only here and in the west of Ireland.

Cauldron Snout

A nature trail leads south from the car park, past rocks that were originally limestone, but were cooked by the volcanic heat and pressure generated during the formation of the Whin Sill to a form of marble, known as sugar limestone. Just beyond the dam, the Tees tumbles down the 200-metre-long staircase of Cauldron Snout. The footpath that descends to the side of the falls is often wet as a result of spray and may be tricky at times. Nevertheless, the cataract can be viewed from the top. After its rapid drop, the river levels out again, and curves around the crags of Falcon Clints and Cronkley Scar, before opening out onto gentler pastures.

In spring, these become a blaze of flowers and are loud with the call of nesting curlew and lapwing, while dippers bob into and out of the now quieter river in search of food.

The copyright of the article Wild Spectacle of the Upper Tees Valley in U.K./Ireland Travel is owned by Anthony Toole. Permission to republish Wild Spectacle of the Upper Tees Valley in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.