North Pennines Waterfalls, County Durham, Summer
Woohoo for a week off! With the Lake District as rammed as it is at the moment, let’s go somewhere a l’al bit different.
Woohoo for a week off! With the Lake District as rammed as it is at the moment, let’s go somewhere and l’al bit different.
The North Pennines AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) is a favourite of ours but remains relatively untouched by us. We’ve explored arguably the jewel of the North Pennines, High Cup Nick, many times. But another absolutely stunning part of the area is the three main waterfalls: High Force, Low Force, and Cauldron Snout.
Long-time followers of this blog may remember our last excursion to High Force and Low Force, last year. The two waterfalls are a geology student’s dream and truly spectacular. But the third waterfall, Cauldron Snout, is often missed out on compared to the other two. That’s because it’s many miles further up the River Tees, near Cow Green Reservoir. Like High Force and Low Force, Cauldron Snout is the result of the outflow of Cow Green Reservoir passing over the whin sill; a layer of prehistoric super-hard dolerite volcanic rock that has left pillars and columns. The waterfall has eroded the softer rock around, leaving the harder columns of whin sill standing.
Cauldron Snout “only” drops about 60 m, all in all, but does so steeply down 180 m of the gorge, making it one of the longest waterfalls in England. The last time we visited it was many years ago in between Christmas and New Year, and a lot of the rock around the waterfall was covered in ice, making it a treacherous task to navigate. This time, we managed to scramble all the down alongside the waterfall. It was immense.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my three prime lenses: a Samyang 35mm f/1.2, a Laowa 9mm f/2.8, and an adapted Pentax SMC 55mm f/2.0. Images developed using one of RNI Film’s Kodachrome profiles, finished in Affinity Photo.
Low Force is probably the easiest of the three to access, being less than a kilometre’s walk from the Bowlees Visitor Centre. Regardless, it’s an impressive sight and sound.
My lovely Lisabet, already on the case and getting some compositions in.
I clambered around the columns and cliffs of whin sill to get to the northern bank of the Tees for this view of the main falls of Low Force. The morning’s light was wonderful and I didn’t want to miss out.
The twin falls of Low Force. Not necessarily all that tall, but powerful and loud.
The conditions and light were beautiful. Not too harsh. Autumn’s definitely on the way.
One gentleman decided that a dip in the waterfall was in order.
Fair play to him.
The Pennine Way heads along this footbridge, which crosses the River Tees below. It’s an old ‘un, too, so all the signage requests people cross it one at a time.
The lower aspect of Low Force shot from the southern banks of the Tees after we crossed the bridge.
After I spotted this young lass climbing the statues, I think she looked rather… sheepish?
A tighter composition of the main falls of Low Force, trying to convey the sheer power of these waterfalls. The redness in the water comes from all the peat the river carries from the high moorlands of the North Pennines.
Looking back at the northern bank of the River Tees, with more people finding their now to the waterfalls. Best get a move on.
Lisabet doing her best to capture all the splendour around her.
Love all the signs of autumn starting to appear.
Looking forward to all the rusty colours of autumnal ferns.
After trekking the Pennine Way along the southern side of the River Tees, we crossed another old footbridge and took these steep steps up towards the road. A visit to High Force beckoned us.
The woodland above the Tees is still lush.
After paying our entrance fee (£2 per adult, very reasonable), we followed the path through the woodlands of the Raby Estate. Already, we could hear the booming sound of the giant waterfall, High Force.
The first glimpse of High Force and the gorge it’s created. The excitement builds…
And there she is, plunging 70 ft off a cliff into the deep pool below. What a sight.
We scrambled down to the boulder field left behind by the receding waterfall, each of us seeking our own photographic compositions of the waterfall.
Of course, mine predominately featured all the wonderful shapes of the boulders.
After thousands and thousands of years, as the waterfall carves its way back up the River Tees, it’s left behind boulder with fascinating shapes and textures.
Plenty of other folk were clambering around the boulders for better views of the awesome High Force.
Nature makes you feel closer.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the High Force trail is a one-way system now, so we hiked up the steep steps out of the gorge and navigated through the Raby Estate woods back to the car. My lovely Lisabet, looking as stunning as ever.
Upper Teesdale has a similar “feel” to a Yorkshire Dales valley, to me.
After a break for lunch, we drove a few miles west and parked at Cow Green Reservoir, seeking out Cauldron Snout. Along the way, views across the reservoir can be had of Meldon Hill (767 m/2,517 ft).
We crossed the dam for views over the reservoir and below to the Tees. Clouds of midges were out in full force.
Looking down onto the Tees from the top of the dam. You can just make out to the left the top of Cauldron Snout before it crashes down into the valley.
Cow Green Reservoir was constructed in the late 1960s to supply the industries of Teeside with a constant supply of water.
The reservoir essentially acts as a river regulator, ensuring the River Tees is always flowing with water even during dry conditions.
And here’s the top of Cauldron Snout. The Pennine Way is to left, but it isn’t really a “path” as such as navigating and scrambling down the side of the gorge created by the waterfall.
But doing so enables you to get right next to the falls for cracking views like this. A man perched at the top of the falls helps provide a sense of scale.
With the heather in bloom, they provided wonderful pops of colour around the waterfall.
Scrambling down the gorge was exhilarating, and definitely something that would not have been possible for my condition 5-years ago.
As the gorge sheltered us from the wind, this provided the necessary moist and still conditions for clouds of midges to form everywhere. They duly took advantage and started ravaging our bare flesh.
Near the bottom of Cauldron Snout now, and we can start to understand the scale of these falls.
The bottom of Cauldron Snout, which climaxes with this beautiful fanned curtain of a waterfall.
Teesdale Waterfalls, North Pennines, Autumn
On the final day of our mini-break we decided to enjoy a proper good hike around Upper Teesdale.
On the final day of our mini-break we decided to enjoy a proper good hike around Upper Teesdale.
We’ve been to Upper Teesdale a few times before, mostly for quick excursions to the epic High Force waterfall. But now we’re fitter and healthier, we felt capable of more, so we parked at the Bowlees Visitor Centre and took in lots of waterfalls around Upper Teesdale.
Upper Teesdale sits within Country Durham near the border with Cumbria, and is also entirely within the North Pennines Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). As well as enjoying the protections of being with in the AONB it’s also a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), for its diverse range of habitats and being one of the most important botanical areas in Britain; Upper Teesdale features a vast mixture of nationally rare flora, including some that are essentially relicts of the last glacial era.
As cool as all this is, Lisabet and I were here for waterfalls and vast open landscapes. Within a relatively small area we were able to visit Summerhill Force (in Gibson’s Cave), Low Force, High Force (from above), and Bleabeck Force. The area is a veritable treasure trove of watery delights!
All photos shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with a Fujinon XF 18–55mm f/2.8–4.0 using a customised Classic Chrome film profile.
A few metres from the Bowlees car park we chanced upon our first waterfall, which we initially thought was Summerhill Force itself. A pleasant little drop.
After trekking back to the Visitor Centre, then across the road and down into the woods, the canopy opens up and we are treated to the spectacular site of Low Force.
In actuality, half a kilometre upstream, this is Summerhill Force, which drops over a large limestone overhang known as Gibson’s Cave.
The rock here is Whin Sill, the exact same rock found at the head of High Cup Nick (you can read about our hike up to this epic valley here). The rock is extremely hard and resists erosion, forming columns and tessellating block pavements.
Not one of the tallest waterfalls, at only 18 ft high, but Low Force is certainly powerful and a damn impressive site.
Around the falls, the woods start changing colour. Autumn is coming.
You can more clearly see the rigid column structures that the Whin Sill rock is known for. Fellow hikers in the background provide a good sense of scale.
What I love about Low Force is that it’s very easy to get right next to the falls, and really feel the roaring power of the water as it crashes down, carving out chunks of land.
The upper section of Low Force. Just a delightful scene, on what turned out to be a beautiful day of clear light.
Soft light in the woods around Low Force.
After crossing Wynch Bridge (carefully, it’s a suspension bridge built in the 1830s), you can catch site of another set of cascades with Low Force in the distance.
Low Force, this time from its southern banks, with soft light highlighting the central pillar that separates the falls.
On our way to High Force I catch some Swaledale sheep mucking around on a raised boulder.
The epic High Force, and my first time photographing the waterfall from above. The falls plunge a sheer 70ft through the hard Whin Sill rock in the area. A truly awe-inspiring site.
Looking straight down the sheer 70 ft drop of High Force. Definitely a weak-knee moment.
From above High Force and looking back into the gorge the waterfall has been cutting for thousands of years.
We sat right next to the Tees above High Force for our picnic lunch. The red-brown colour in the water is from all the peat the river carries from the moorland of the North Pennines.
Families enjoy the sites and sounds of the Tees, hopping between boulders or pausing for food and drink.
Beyond High Force the landscape of Upper Teesdale really opens up, and we can make out some of the peaks of the North Pennines.
Our final destination in Upper Teesdale: Bleabeck Force.
It was lovely to see so much heather (Calluna vulgaris) in Upper Teesdale.
A dead Juniper tree (Juniperus communis) enveloped by a boulder.
A somewhat rundown farmstead, still apparently in habitation.