A Visitor's View

Having, for many years, driven past Langdon Beck without stopping, my wife and I booked a couple of night’s bed and breakfast in Upper Teesdale. I wanted to photograph Cauldron Snout. Arriving at midday on the 15th August, we drove up, and up, to the car park at Cow Green reservoir where we were delighted to find the heather in full bloom and the sun shining intermittently. The reservoir is

fed by the River Tees which has its source in the distant fells to the north-west. Amidst heather and moorland the two mile stretch of water looked placid in its isolated moorland setting.  

 

Cow Green dam, built between 1967 and 1971, is situated at the southern end of the reservoir and is reached after a two mile walk from the car park. It is built into the rocks of the Whin Sill on its east side and into an earth dam on the opposite side.

 

Imposing as the dam is, it is hard to reconcile the facts that the water of the Tees, falling freely over a succession of fine waterfalls downstream, had earlier been corralled and forced through a man-made pipe at the base of this dam.

 

Shortly after the dam, the river falls about 50 metres in a succession of waterfalls. Beside the first of these falls, the fractured rocks of the Great Whin Sill present a contrast with the smoothness of the dam wall upriver.

 

 

At the bottom of the narrow gorge the water is free to fall in a rush over a wider area. This is the view that hikers first see when walking north on the Pennine Way.

In the middle of the river, below the final fall, the size and shape of the weathered, algae-covered rocks is a testament to the power of water and ice to crack and shift rock.

A little further downstream, just below Falcon Clints, we came across a rock that looked somewhat ‘bewildered’ by where it had fallen.

As the path ahead looked to be boggy, and it was getting late, we retraced our steps towards Cauldron Snout and were able to enjoy approaching views of the hill, north of Maize Beck, with its barn safely positioned above the Tees.

The heather coated crags of the Whin Sill remained to be climbed and the return walk to the car park completed, so no more photographs were taken on the 15th.

 

On the morning of the 16th , we aimed for Widdybank Farm on what promised to be a fine sunny day.  A Pennine-Way walker was also heading north and was already excited about the prospect of seeing High Cup Nick for the first time, something my wife and I have yet to experience.

The remoteness and grandeur of Widdybank Pasture on that morning was a joy to see.

 

Further along the track, tall grasses testify to the rain that nourishes these wetland pastures. Even in summer, one particular section, beyond Widdybank Farm, had to be skirted given the depth of the water.

 

 

  

We walked, scrambled and climbed on earth, rock and slatted-wood tracks, beside the river and back to Cauldron Snout. The views along the way were as impressive as we have seen anywhere in England but the light at midday was not conducive to landscape photography. Having carried a tripod and quite heavy camera equipment, I was delighted, on reaching Cauldron Snout, to be able to take a long-exposure image that transformed the cascading water into an almost ethereal fan-like structure.

 

After lunch, we began the return walk to Widdybank Farm. The light was now in a direction that allowed pictures to be taken of Falcon Clints where the vertical cracks of the Whin Sill can be clearly seen.

  

 

Further along, the remains of a wheel barrow is perched on rocks above the path. Seemingly incongruous, it appears to be a reminder of past, and continuing, labour in this rugged but beautiful landscape.

 

  

 

 

In the next picture the path can be seen to weave through wetland grasses towards a distant rock that on approaching appears to show a conchoidal fracture.














Its smooth rounded nature is apparent and it forms an impressive foreground beneath the Sill.

 

 

 

 

In contrast to this smooth faced rock, most of the scree is formed of large, jagged rectangular quartz dolerite boulders. However, like the rounded rock, there are a few rocks that look noticeably different. Possibly these were formed by the magma baking the surrounding limestone as it intruded into rock fissures 295 million years ago.

 

We passed an island in the river that is notable for having a healthy stock of Juniper and other flora.

 

    

With Widdybank Farm in distant sight, and an old barn to the left of the track, the hazy light ahead was beginning to obscure the far off Langdon Fells.

However, allowing me to get closer than is usually the case, a single sheep permitted me to inch towards it. Having got as close as I dared, it finally ran off startled by me moving backwards to steady myself! 

 

  

After sampling just a few of the visual delights of this remote gem of a reserve, my wife and I completed the day with a short walk around Langdon Beck. Although, not up to the sunset of the day before, the setting sun provided sufficient light to capture a view of Sayer Hill Farm, falling into darkness below Widdybank Fell.

  

This has to be one of the finest landscapes in England, and to think that we were formerly too busy to stop and look. Converted, we are now eager to see how the landscape appears at other times of

the year.

 

Peter J. Hatcher
 

Today was the last Wild Wednesday of the Summer holidays.   The theme was 'den building and habitats'.  The dens were built collaboratively by groups of 3-4 children (and their grown ups) in the woods of Bowlees Visitor Centre.  The remit was that each group had to be able to all fit inside their finished den. Just the children, that is, although there were a few willing grown ups too (including a member of staff)!

The craft activities were making fairy/hobbit homes, where the children designed and made entrances into a secret world hidden within the trees.

 

They also made solitary bee houses to take home for their own gardens.

 

 

 

 

There were also bug hunting kits available for those who wanted to go off in search of minibeasts. 

 

Plus there was a habitat-themed trail to follow through the grounds, in search of hidden clues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were very touched today by the thanks we have received from our Wild Wednesday attendees.  We have had a lot of fun running the Wild Wednesdays in partnership with North Pennines AONB and could not have managed without the invaluable support of our wonderful volunteers.

 

 

 

Working with the children has, as always, been a rewarding experience, made even more so by the following quote from Joseph, aged 7, "I wish we could have every Wednesday off school so that we could come here".  What a lovely note to end on.

 

Please be aware that there will be no Wild Wednesday during the October half-term week.  Instead there will be a Halloween event on Friday 28th October 2016 at Bowlees Visitor Centre.  See their events page for more details.

Don't forget we also run Bowlees Discovery Club, a nature club for 5-11 year olds, on the last Saturday of each month (except Aug & Dec), 10.30-12.30.  Contact Bowlees Visitor Centre for more information.



 

Despite the damp night, a few bats and moths were out last night during our Creatures of the Night event.  After indoor presentations given by North Pennines AONB Partnership's very own bat man, Alistair Lockett and local moth expert, Ian Findlay, we  had fun outside bat and moth hunting.  With the aid of bat detectors, we saw and heard pipistrelle and whiskered/brandt's bats flying around the grounds of Bowlees Visitor Centre.

 

We also trapped a number of moths using a variety of trapping methods, including treacling, wine ropes and light traps. 

 

 

We returned inside to examine and identify the moths we had trapped, including some from a trap set the previous night in neighbouring Newbiggin.  There were 16 different species of moth, including the barred straw, burnished brass, and dark arches pictured here. (See full list below).

 

Alistair had also brought in a captive pipistrelle bat for us to see, that he is looking after whilst it recovers from an injury.

 

Full moth list: anther moth, burnished brass, silver Y, yellow underwing, lesser yellow underwing, lesser angle shades, pug, ear moth, pink barred sallow, July high flyer, common carpet, dark arches, barred straw, lined waved moth, autumnal rustic and common rustic.

 

 

 

Wild Wednesday was immensely popular yesterday at Bowlees Visitor Centre where we were river dipping in the beck just by the bridge.  We found: caddis fly, may fly and stone fly larvae; snails, leeches, shrimp; and bullhead fish - to name but a few invertebrates.  These were later carefully returned to their natural habitat after we had studied and identified them.

 

Despite the river being low, we did end up with a few water logged wellies but the young casualties soon dried out in the sunshine. 

 

 

 

We also had other river-based activities.  These included: messy mud painting using river water; making both caddis fly larvae  and may fly lifecycle wheels; stone rubbings; plus a trail  around the grounds of Bowlees Visitor Centre to look for hidden pictures of  river invertebrates. 

 

 

 

Next week, the Wild Wednesday theme is 'Campfire Cooking'.  See Bowlees Visitor Centre Events page for more details.  Booking recommended. Time slots will be allocated for the campfire.


 

It was a cracking day yesterday for checking the electric fences around Widdybank pastures.  

 

The wading birds may have nested and mostly disappeared but the swallows are still with us and were busy hoovering up the flying ants in the farmyard. 

 

There were also lots of butterflies and moths in the meadows, and the sunlight was sparkling on the River Tees.



 

Today we've been working with North Pennines AONB Partnership at Bowlees Visitor Centre, jointly hosting 'Wild Wednesday', which is a weekly event for children (although the grown-ups enjoy it too), running through the school holidays.

 

Today's theme was 'Outdoor Art'. 

 

We had messy mud painting, fossil making, natural sculptures, art in the trees and a Turner trail.  The event was well attended and we saw some lovely creations.

 

Next week, the Wild Wednesday theme is 'River Dipping'.  See Bowlees Visitor Centre Events page for more details.



From all of us at Moor House - Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve, welcome to our brand new blog! We are excited to have this platform to share our very special Reserve with you, including the work that we do, the wildlife that we look after and the events that we run.   We hope that you will find our posts  interesting,  informative, and on occasion, amusing.