My quote

"The World is simply my playground, everyone else just happens to be in it."

Monday 25 October 2010

Force of Nature - High Force, County Durham, England

It may not exactly be Victoria Falls, Niagara or Angel Falls, but High Force is one of England's highest waterfalls. Situated in North East England near the village of Middleton-in-Teesdale in the River Tees valley the falls are approached by a lovely walk across fields, rocks and bouncy bridges, through bracken fields covering the surrounding rolling hills and past the spectacular rock formations.

The ideal approach takes you from the more spread out Low Force falls - as the name suggests it's not exactly high, but at this point the river tumbles over the rocks in what looks more like a strong series of rapids than an actual waterfall.

This is also the site for the Wynch Bridge, a one person at a time bouncy suspension bridge which just adds to the delightful scenery.

From there it is a couple of miles upstream to reach High Force, along the riverside path. All along there are plenty of spots to step down to the river with its extremely clear water which contrasts between peaceful calm and raging torrent - at some points resembling either a powerful jacuzzi or a bubbling geyser.

As we get closer to High Force itself, the path is keeping us hidden away in the overgrown greenery but the noise or cascading water gives away what is coming up soon. The noise continues to build, and at a fork in the pathway we take the choice which leads straight to the cliff edge, now that we're up higher than the river.



Emerging out onto the rocks suddenly High Force is raging away to our left and we're in perfect photo territory. Moving off along the path again a few small openings on the cliff edge allow a few closer glimpses of the falls almost directly in front of us with the water raging almost in front of my face.

Further still the view changes again as we're now at the top of the falls looking down as the water disappears over the edge. A few other walkers, who must have had a harder time than us reaching this point, are cooking up some lunch on a gas stove while perching on the rocks at the edge of the falls. We make do with a Mars Bar each as our reward!

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