Explore the North Pennines Pocket Guide 2014/15 Free! Inside… • Things to see & do • Discover Bowlees Visitor Centre • Dark Sky Discovery Sites • Maps & area guides • Explore North Pennines • Attractions Welcome to The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty s Alston The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is a stunning landscape of open heather moors, dramatic dales, tumbling Contents upland rivers, wonderful woods, inky-black night skies, close-knit communities, glorious waterfalls, fantastic birds, colourful hay meadows, Page stone-built villages, intriguing imprints of a mining and industrial past, A special place 4 distinctive plants and much, much more. As well as being an AONB the Be a green visitor 8 North Pennines is also a European and Global Geopark. Finding out more 11 Events in the AONB 12 Other events & activities 13 Where is the North Pennines? Shows and fairs 14 The North Pennines is a distinctive landscape of high moorland and broad Farmers’ markets 15 upland dales in the North of England. It shares a boundary with the Yorkshire Area guides 16 Dales National Park in the south and extends as far as the Tyne Valley, just south North Pennines map 26-27 of Hadrian’s Wall, in the north. Parts of the North Pennines AONB are in the Attractions 28 three counties of Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland. See the map on the Explore North Pennines 34 centre pages 26 & 27 for more detail. - Walking 35 - Cycling 38 How to use this guide - Fishing 40 Map references - Horse riding 42 Throughout the guide many attractions, places and other features have been Geology and landscape 43 given a map reference eg D2 C3 A1 . These refer to the map on the centre pages Hay meadows 45 26 & 27. Birds 46 Moorlands 47 Green Tourism Discover the past 48 Look out for Green Tourism logos throughout the guide. Wherever you see Publications 49 one you can be sure that the business is committed to looking after the Bowlees Visitor Centre 51 environment. See page 8 for more details or visit www.green-tourism.com Where to stay The North Pennines has a wide variety of places to stay. To find out more visit This publication is printed on 250/115gsm Front cover: © David Taylor Photography. All other unaccredited websites with accommodation information listed on the area guides pages 16-25. Revive 100 Silk: 100% post-consumer images are: © Natural England/Charlie Hedley/Steve Westwood/Barry recycled fibre content. Stacey; North Pennines AONB Partnership/Rebecca Barrett/Elizabeth Cover: Greenleycleugh Crags, Kevelin Moor, Allen Valleys Maps used between pages 16 & 27 Pickett/Chris Woodley-Stewart/K.Gibson/Shane Harris/Elfie are based on OS mapping © Crown Waren/Paul Frodsham/Charlie Hedley/Simon Wilson/Louise Information is correct at the time of going to print (Jan 2014). Every effort has been made to ensure that Copyright. All rights reserved. Durham Taylor/Andy Lees/Eva Zandeman; www.northeastwildlife.co.uk; information is accurate. However, the AONB Partnership and its Staff Team cannot be held responsible for errors County Council. LA 100049055. 2014. Marcus Byron; Teesdale Marketing. or omissions. Please check critical information before travel. Inclusion in this guide is not a recommendation by the AONB Partnership and in itself is not necessarily a guarantee of quality. North Pennines AONB Partnership, Weardale Business Centre, The Old Co-op Building, 1 Martin St, Stanhope, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL13 2UY 2 NORTH PENNINES AONB • POCKET GUIDE 2014/15 NORTH PENNINES AONB • POCKET GUIDE 2014/15 3 Introducing the North Pennines A special place s Nine Standards Rigg, near Kirkby Stephen The North Pennines is one of England’s most special places – a peaceful, People and places unspoilt landscape with a rich history and vibrant natural beauty. It was The character of the North Pennines landscape is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1988. inseparable from the people and places found Tumbling waterfalls, sweeping moorland views, dramatic dales, stone-built here. The differing nature of settlements, from villages, snaking stone walls and friendly faces – the North Pennines has the distinctive red sandstone villages at the foot all this and more! of the North Pennine escarpment to the white farms and barns of the Raby Estate in Teesdale, has a significant impact on landscape character. Beneath your feet Local traditions and other intangible elements The impressive landscape of the North Pennines – from also come together with wildlife, geology, soils s High Force on the River Tees to the sweeping valley of and climate to form the essence of the North Dufton High Cup Gill above Dufton – are the product of millions Pennines landscape. Past, present and future generations of people are also of years of geological processes. The worldwide fundamental to an appreciation of the area’s rich cultural heritage. significance of the geology found here is recognised by the fact that the North Pennines AONB is also a UNESCO- Plants and animals Wilson ©Val endorsed Global Geopark. pages 43-44 The area is famous for the variety and profusion s Frosterley Marble at of plants and animals found here. Eighty percent Past times Harehope Quarry of the AONB benefits from the continuation of About 12,000 people live in the North Pennines today – less than half the less intensive and more traditional farming number who lived here 150 years ago in the heyday of the lead mining industry. practices, which means that large tracts of the The rise and fall of mining has left an indelible imprint on the landscape, not area are still a haven for wildlife. pages 45-47 just in terms of the physical remains but also in the pattern of local settlement. s The social history of the miner-farmers is also an intriguing element that Spring gentian contributes to the story of the North Pennines. page 48 Get involved Do you care about the North Pennines? The Friends of the North Pennines is a charity specially designed for people who are passionate about looking after, and celebrating what’s special about the area. Find out how to join and more information at www.friendsofthenorthpennines.org.uk l [email protected] s Leading the hay by cart (near Bowes) in the 1920s. Courtesy of the Parkin Raine Collection 4 NORTH PENNINES AONB • POCKET GUIDE 2014/15 NORTH PENNINES AONB • POCKET GUIDE 2014/15 5 © BrianRafferty Dark skies Fact file The North Pennines has some of the darkest skies in the country, a result of the area being one of the most remote places in In the North Pennines you’ll find: England. It sits away from the large urban cities of the North East • Peace, tranquility and fabulous night skies making it a great place to make the most of the dark night skies. • England’s biggest waterfall The AONB Partnership has worked with partners at • Almost 40% of the UK’s upland hay meadows the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, to designate 13 Dark Sky Discovery Sites across the North Pennines. • 30% of England’s upland heathland and 27% of its Sites include Allendale Golf Course in Northumberland, blanket bog Grassholme, Hury, Selset, Balderhead and Cow Green • 80% of England’s black grouse reservoirs in Teesdale, Burnhope Reservoir in Weardale • Short-eared owl, ring ouzel, snipe and redshank and Clesketts Car Park in Cumbria. • 36% of the AONB designated as Sites of Special Find out more about all our Dark Sky Discovery Scientific Interest Sites at www.explorenorthpennines.org.uk l click s Startrails taken at the on Stargazing • Red squirrels, otters and rare arctic alpine plants Allendale Golf Course Dark • 22,000 pairs of breeding wading birds Sky Discovery Site © Andy Gray Who looks after the AONB? Local communities, landowners, farmers and estate managers look after the Bowlees Visitor Centre North Pennines. These people have helped shape the landscape for centuries and With world-famous waterfalls and the Pennine Way as its this continues today. Everyone who has an interest in the North Pennines has a neighbours, Bowlees Visitor Centre in Upper Teesdale C3 responsibility to care for the AONB. is the perfect base for discovering the special qualities of The North Pennines AONB Partnership, an alliance of 21 public, statutory and the North Pennines AONB. You’re also sure of a warm voluntary sector bodies, also helps to look after the area. The work of the welcome at Café 1618@Bowlees. Partnership is carried out by its Staff Team, based in Stanhope C2 . The Staff Team Surrounded by stunning woodland, alongside the River takes action to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area, to raise Tees, our recently refurbished centre is the ideal spot to awareness of its special qualities and to improve the quality of life for local people. experience the changing seasons of the beautiful British countryside. Follow the work of the AONB Partnership on twitter.com/NorthPennAONB Staffed by the team from the facebook.com/NorthPenninesAONB AONB Partnership, it’s a great place to discover more about s Discover Teesdale and The aim of AONB designation is to look after the North Pennines, where the wildlife which our finest landscapes, not just for now, but the best walks are and how finds a home there also for our children’s children to cherish you can make the most of and enjoy. www.landscapesforlife.org.uk this fantastic part of England. s Get closer to nature on pages 28, 51 our events and activities 6 NORTH PENNINES AONB • POCKET GUIDE 2014/15 NORTH PENNINES AONB • POCKET GUIDE 2014/15 7 Looking after the North Pennines Be a green visitor! s Teesdale Follow the Countryside Code and the Moorland Visitor's Code Whatever you do, and however you do it, you're sure to have an impact on the environment! By making some positive choices during your visit www.naturalengland.org you can be confident that you are helping to look after this special place.