High Force Waterfall

We’ve had a lot of rain recently. April this year turned out to be the wettest on record and, so far at least, May has been pretty wet too. One of the good things about having a lot of rain is that our waterfalls are at their most spectacular.

One of our favourite waterfalls is High Force in Middleton-in-Teesdale, where the River Tees plunges 71 feet off a precipice. It’s surely one of Britain’s most spectacular waterfalls as well as being one of England’s tallest. The first time we went was about two years ago.

There’s a well-made gravel path (small charge made) down to the water’s edge. The weather had been much like it has been recently and the falls were spectacular: the spray rose off the pool in huge clouds of mist and the thundering noise was so loud we had to shout to each other. The raw power of the water was just incredible. James loved it!

We also had a nice little walk along an easy part of the Pennine Way to a fabulous viewpoint which was a great place to eat our lunch (care needed with small children who like to get too near the edge…). So, if we still lived in the North East we would be paying a visit to High Force this week. But for now, we need to find some waterfalls near Wiltshire.

Anyone got any suggestions?