{"id":10566,"date":"2022-01-31T15:22:38","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T14:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=20934"},"modified":"2022-01-31T16:02:22","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T15:02:22","slug":"walk-langdon-beck-county-durham","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/walk-langdon-beck-county-durham\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk: Langdon Beck, County Durham"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Anthony Toole\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 31 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Cronkley Scar, Falcon Clints, Whiddybank Fell, Cauldron Snout. The names have a hard-edged musicality that perfectly echoes the harsh, compelling beauty of the landscape. The huge national nature reserve of Moor House-Upper Teesdale, more than 7,000 hectares\u00a0in size, is as bleak as any\u00a0part of England.<\/p>\n

Winter lingers in the high valleys long after it has melted elsewhere. Living is hard, yet the hardiest not only survive, they refuse to move away.\u00a0Among the toughest are the black grouse. Wrapped up against a sudden snowfall,\u00a0I have seen as many as 40 blackcocks strutting around the hillsides, watched from dry-stone wall perches by a similar number of drab-looking hens.<\/p>\n

\""Langdon\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The River Tees slinks beneath the precipitous wall of Falcon Clints in Moor House-Upper Teesdale, the UK\u2019s largest terrestrial National Nature Reserve\/Credit: Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption> Getty<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n\n
The male black grouse\u00a0is an impressive fellow, and\u00a0he knows it. He displays his iridescent black plumage \u2013 enhanced by a forked tail,\u00a0white rump and red eyebrows \u2013 to attract females and deter rivals during the springtime\u00a0lek.<\/div>\n\n
In decline throughout the British Isles, this large game bird hangs on in parts of Scotland, Wales and the North Pennines, though its reluctance to move beyond its territory means that the small, local populations remain isolated from each other. The Upper Teesdale flock tends to concentrate in the fields around Langdon Beck.<\/div>\n\n
\""Black\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Black grouse were once widespread across the UK, yet in recent decades, habitat loss and overgrazing have led to a decline in their populations\/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Langdon Beck walk<\/h2>\n

7.5 miles | 4 hours | moderate<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Bridge the Beck<\/strong><\/p>\n

Approximately half-a-mile along the road west from Langdon Beck Hotel, a gate opens into the national nature reserve. A good, rough track runs for a mile to Widdybank Farm and a junction with the Pennine Way<\/a>. If you are content with a short walk, turn east along the national trail for about a mile. Negotiate several styles to a bridge over Harwood Beck, then follow a swampy and indistinct bridleway back to\u00a0the start (2.5-mile loop walk).<\/p>\n

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