High Force
High Force | |
---|---|
Location | Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England |
Coordinates | 54°39′1″N 2°11′15″W / 54.65028°N 2.18750°W |
Type | Curtain |
Total height | 21 m |
High Force is a
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
High Force was formed where the River Tees crosses the
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".
In popular culture
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]
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 ...
References
- ^ "High Force, Low Force and the River Tees from Bowlees". Walking Britain. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ "BBC - Seven Wonders - High Force".
- ISBN 9780831757731.
- ISBN 9780718124298.
- ^ "IMDb - Filming Locations for Mackenna's Gold movie". IMDb. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 978-0-64-254163-5.
- ISBN 9781857541991.