Key characteristics
- Upper reaches of the Pennine Dales.
- Varied valley topography.
- Carboniferous rocks bare of drift or overlain by boulder clays. Narrow floodplains of alluvium or river terrace deposits.
- Rocky fast flowing meandering streams.
- Shallow, infertile or waterlogged soils
- Wet rushy pastures, upland hay meadows and rough grazing in the moorland fringes.
- Regular field patterns of dry-stone walls and wire fences.
- Few trees or woodlands – occasional concentrations of conifer plantations.
- Scattered small farms with occasional farm clusters and hamlets.
- Relics of the lead and coal mining industry including disused workings and abandoned railway lines.
- Major reservoirs in some dales.
- Visually open but enclosed by encircling moorland ridgelines.
- Remote and tranquil upland landscapes on the margins of settlement and agriculture.
Description
A pastoral landscape at the limits of agriculture high in the upper reaches of the Pennine dales. The topography of the dale floor in the upper dales is varied. Most upper dales are relatively shallow and broad, incised by narrow gullies – gills or sikes – cut by rocky, fast flowing streams. The underlying Carboniferous sandstones, shales and limestones are generally masked by glacial boulder clay and morainic drift. Soils are heavy waterlogged or peaty gleys.
This is a pastoral landscape of wet, rush-infested pastures, upland hay meadows and rough grazing enclosed from the moor. Field patterns tend to be regular and date from enclosure and agricultural improvements from the late C18th onwards. Fields are generally large and bounded by low dry stone walls or wire fences, often in a poor state of repair. The diversity of grasslands, grazed by hardy upland sheep and beef cattle, creates a patchwork of muted and brighter greens reflecting varying degrees of improvement by drainage, liming, and fertilising. There are scattered stone field barns and sheepfolds.
Most upper dales are open or sparsely wooded with occasional small streamside woods, sparse lines of alder trees and willow scrub following watercourses, or isolated conifer plantations or shelterbelts. In places land in the dale head has been afforested with large regular blocks of pine and spruce.
Small farms and farm clusters are scattered across the dale floor and onto the dale sides, occasionally marked by wind-blown groups of sycamore or pine shelter trees. In Teesdale the tenanted farms of the Raby estate are painted white. Many farms date from the expansion of the lead mining industry which brought miner-small holders to the limits of agriculture. Relics of the lead mining industry include derelict mine buildings, waste heaps, smelter flues, reservoirs and hushes. The heads of a number of dales are now occupied by large reservoirs.
The landscape is visually open and exposed and defined by the encircling moorland skyline. A remote and tranquil landscape on the margins of settlement and agriculture, often with a rather bleak and neglected quality.
Measures: land management
Natural features
See Nature Recovery Section, Outcomes NR1,NR3, NR4 and NR5, for main measures relating to peatland and heathland, trees and woodland, rivers and streams and grasslands. Additional measures are listed below.
- Restructure forests and plantations to soften geometric outlines.
- Conserve and reinforce stands of shelter trees around isolated farmsteads.
Cultural features
- Protect archaeological features by avoiding overstocking or supplementary feeding on sensitive sites.
- Protect and conserve lead mining features – avoid physical damage, removal, infilling or tree planting. Restore or consolidate important structures and gate open shafts and adits taking archaeological advice.
- Remove trees or plantations from sensitive archaeological sites - including lead mining sites.
- Conserve and maintain historic field barns, farm buildings and lime kilns.
- Conserve and enhance old quarries by avoiding tipping and excluding livestock to promote natural regeneration. Maintain access to geological exposures.
Field boundaries
- Maintain and restore dry stone walls.
Measures: development
Agricultural buildings
- Site new farm buildings close to existing buildings where possible, and reflect their scale, character and materials.
- Reduce the impact of larger modern buildings by careful selection of colour, breaking up mass and planting screening belts of native species. Follow the North Pennines National Landscape Planning and Design Guidelines.
Energy, telecommunications & infrastructure
- Avoid the siting of tall structures such as masts, pylons and wind turbines in the Upper Dale landscape generally.
- Where masts, pylons or domestic scale wind turbines are needed, site them close to existing buildings and forest edges and avoid sensitive skylines. Where possible underground services.
- Ancillary buildings should be designed to reflect the scale and character of traditional agricultural buildings.
Minerals & waste
- Avoid damage to sensitive natural landforms.
- Avoid breaching local skylines with extraction areas or storage mounds.
- Restore quarry faces to naturalistic profiles using restoration blasting.
- Restore quarries to semi-natural woodland, grassland, wetland and bare rock habitats using natural regeneration where appropriate.
Tourism & recreation
- Tourism and recreational development should be undertaken in such a way as to avoid any urbanising influence on the landscape. Existing buildings should be re-used where possible. New buildings should reflect the scale, form, materials and vernacular detailing of traditional farm buildings in the area.
- Facilities and infrastructure for tourism and recreation – paths, car parks, litter bins, signage and interpretation - should be provided only where absolutely necessary and should be sensitively designed and low key to avoid exerting an urbanising influence on this very rural landscape.