High Force

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High Force
High Force Waterfall (geograph 7027112).jpg
High Force
High Force
Location Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England
Coordinates 54°39′1″N2°11′15″W / 54.65028°N 2.18750°W / 54.65028; -2.18750
Type Curtain
Total height21 m

High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale, England. [1] The waterfall is within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the European Geopark. The waterfall is part of the historic county boundary between the North Riding of Yorkshire on the south bank, and County Durham on the north bank (however, since the local government reforms of 1974, the south bank of the Tees in Teesdale has also been included within County Durham for administrative purposes).

Contents

The whole of the River Tees plunges 70 feet (21 m) [2] over a precipice (an almost vertical cliff edge) in two stages. After heavy rainfall the river will also flow over the usually dry right-hand side channel, creating two falls. Very occasionally the river level will be high enough to flow over the central section of rock; the last recorded time this happened was in December 2015 after Storm Desmond. In harsh winters the falls have been known to freeze, creating cathedral-like ice formations. [3]

Access to the northern bank is via a private footpath on the Raby estate for which a fee is charged. The southern bank can be reached free of charge via the Pennine Way public footpath which crosses the Moor House-Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve.

Geology

A view including the now rarely seen second fall on the right High Force from the Pennine Way - geograph.org.uk - 1726862.jpg
A view including the now rarely seen second fall on the right
Storm conditions in 1968 High Force after a storm - geograph.org.uk - 111699.jpg
Storm conditions in 1968

High Force was formed where the River Tees crosses the Whin Sill – a hard layer of igneous rock (also seen at Hadrian's Wall and other locations). The waterfall itself consists of three different types of rock. The upper band is made up of whinstone, or dolerite, a hard igneous rock which the waterfall takes a lot of time to erode. The lower section is made up of Carboniferous Limestone, a softer rock which is more easily worn away by the waterfall. Between these two layers is a thinner layer of Carboniferous sandstone, which was baked hard when the Whin Sill was molten 295 million years ago. The wearing away of rock means that the waterfall is slowly moving upstream, leaving a narrow, deep gorge in front of it. The length of the gorge is currently about 700 metres (2,300 ft). The bed load (rocks that the river is carrying) is mainly composed of large boulders, which are rolled along the river bed. Upstream of the waterfall, the river is narrow; downstream, it widens and meanders.

Relative height

Despite popular belief that it is the highest waterfall in England, [4] at 71 feet (22 m), others have a longer fall: Cautley Spout, in Cumbria's Howgill Fells, is almost 590 feet (180 m) high, and Hardraw Force, in North Yorkshire, has an unbroken drop of 98 feet (30 m). Underground, on the flanks of Ingleborough, Fell Beck falls an unbroken 315 feet (96 m) down the Jib Tunnel of Gaping Gill Hole. However, High Force does have the largest volume of water falling over an unbroken drop when in full spate, thereby earning its Nordic name "High Fosse".

Stock footage of the waterfalls was featured in the film Mackenna's Gold . Although the story of the film is supposed to occur in the American Southwest, stock footage of High Force was used. [5] High Force also appeared in Emmerdale [6] in 2021.

Notable visitors

The painter J. M. W. Turner arrived at High Force at 10:00 a.m. on 3 August 1816 to sketch the scene. He then travelled upstream to Cauldron Snout and eventually made his way to Dufton, across the fells, in inclement weather. [7]

Arthur Young came with his wife on horseback from Durham in 1771 and made the following comment: [8]

The whole river (no trifling one) divided by one rock into two vast torrents pours down a perpendicular precipice of near fourscore feet: The deluging force of the water throws up such a foam and misty rain, that the sun never shines without a large and brilliant rainbow appearing... After preaching at Cuthberton and in Teesdale, I went a little out of my way, to see one of the wonders of nature. The river Tees rushes down between two rocks, and falls sixty feet perpendicular into a basin of water sixty feet deep ...

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Pennines</span> Range of hills in northern England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teesdale</span> Valley in Northern England

Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees's drainage basin; most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven.

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Newbiggin is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 146. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale, opposite Holwick. An influx of Derbyshire lead miners into the area in the late 18th century may have brought the name from Biggin. The village is within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middleton-in-Teesdale</span> Town in County Durham, England

Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is in Teesdale, on the River Tees's north banks, and surrounded by the North Pennines. The town is between Eggleston and Newbiggin, a few miles to the north-west of Barnard Castle.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whin Sill</span> Layer of dolerite rock in northern England

The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Northumberland National Park and stretches from Teesdale northwards towards Berwick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cauldron Snout</span> Cascade on River Tees

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The geology of England is mainly sedimentary. The youngest rocks are in the south east around London, progressing in age in a north westerly direction. The Tees–Exe line marks the division between younger, softer and low-lying rocks in the south east and the generally older and harder rocks of the north and west which give rise to higher relief in those regions. The geology of England is recognisable in the landscape of its counties, the building materials of its towns and its regional extractive industries.

The Durham Dales is the name given to a large area of landscape in the west of County Durham, consisting primarily of the Durham portion of the North Pennines, in England.

Middleton Quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of west County Durham, England. It is a disused quarry, from which Whin Sill stone was formerly excavated. It lies just south of the River Tees, opposite the village of Middleton-in-Teesdale on the river's northern bank.

Park End Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of west County Durham, England. The site occupies a low hill of Whin Sill on the southern edge of the River Tees floodplain just over 2 km upstream from the village of Middleton-in-Teesdale. It adjoins the Upper Teesdale SSSI to the south, and the Middle Crossthwaite and Stonygill Meadows SSSIs are nearby.

The geology of County Durham in northeast England consists of a basement of Lower Palaeozoic rocks overlain by a varying thickness of Carboniferous and Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks which dip generally eastwards towards the North Sea. These have been intruded by a pluton, sills and dykes at various times from the Devonian Period to the Palaeogene. The whole is overlain by a suite of unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age arising from glaciation and from other processes operating during the post-glacial period to the present. The geological interest of the west of the county was recognised by the designation in 2003 of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty as a European Geopark.

The geology of Northumberland in northeast England includes a mix of sedimentary, intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks from the Palaeozoic and Cenozoic eras. Devonian age volcanic rocks and a granite pluton form the Cheviot massif. The geology of the rest of the county is characterised largely by a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age. These are intruded by both Permian and Palaeogene dykes and sills and the whole is overlain by unconsolidated sediments from the last ice age and the post-glacial period. The Whin Sill makes a significant impact on Northumberland's character and the former working of the Northumberland Coalfield significantly influenced the development of the county's economy. The county's geology contributes to a series of significant landscape features around which the Northumberland National Park was designated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Cup Gill</span>

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The geology of Northumberland National Park in northeast England includes a mix of sedimentary, intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks from the Palaeozoic and Cenozoic eras. Devonian age volcanic rocks and a granite pluton form the Cheviot massif. The geology of the rest of the national park is characterised largely by a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age. These are intruded by Permian dykes and sills, of which the Whin Sill makes a significant impact in the south of the park. Further dykes were intruded during the Palaeogene period. The whole is overlain by unconsolidated sediments from the last ice age and the post-glacial period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Flood of 1771</span> Severe flooding of many rivers in northern England in 1771

The Great Flood of 1771 affected several rivers, including the Tyne, Tees, Wear and Eden and settlements across northern England from 16 and 17 November 1771. Its cause was a sudden thaw of the ice in upper Teesdale, a cloud burst over the Pennines and a continuous period of rain.

References

  1. "High Force, Low Force and the River Tees from Bowlees". Walking Britain. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  2. "BBC - Seven Wonders - High Force".
  3. Jackson, Michael (1979). Exploring England. Collins. p. 102. ISBN   9780831757731.
  4. Wainwright, Alfred (1985). Wainwright on the Pennine Way. p.  114. ISBN   9780718124298.
  5. "IMDb - Filming Locations for Mackenna's Gold movie". IMDb. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  6. Scott, Jim (20 October 2021). "This County Durham landmark appeared in dramatic ITV episode last night - and people are loving it". The Northern Echo . Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. Dixon, Christine (2008). Turner to Monet: The Triumph of Landscape Painting. National Gallery of Australia. p. 104. ISBN   978-0-64-254163-5.
  8. Myers, Alan (1995). Myers' Literary Guide: The North East. Mid Northumberland Arts Group. p. 94. ISBN   9781857541991.