High Force (one of England’s most powerful waterfalls)
High Force is one of England’s most powerful waterfalls, located on the River Tees in County Durham. It has the largest volume of water falling over an unbroken drop in England, when in full flow. Located in The Pennines, it drops over a hard layer of rock onto softer limestone. Its name is Nordic from ‘High Fosse’.
There are many safety caveats in place, due to the waterfall being so powerful. There is an official footpath to view it, but swimming is not permitted. The falls are most dramatic after heavy rainfall.
England doesn’t have that many waterfalls (around 125) and most are in northern England. Near the Teesdale town of Middleton, locals can nearly always hear the water running.
Formed by the force of water eroding rocks, the water then shoots over the edge, as there is no land beneath. A few worldwide are caused by melted ice (in Antarctica, there is even a ‘blood red’ waterfall caused by iron salts oozing out of ice.
Always wear sturdy shoes with good grip and never get too close to waterfalls. Use safety rails and obey notices, and if you take photos, look where you are going, not at the waterfall.
There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says ‘If you are flexible, falling will not hurt you’. Mehmet Murat Ildan
Other powerful waterfalls in England
Waterfall Swallet is near the villages of Foolow and Eyam, and disappears underground. The second village is well-known, as this is where people isolated themselves (knowing they would die) to stop passing on the plague in 1665, after cloth was bought with infected fleas.
There is a legend that a Victorian farm girl’s ghost is here (she threw herself into the river, after a failed affair with a local miner).
Be careful here, as some people have died visiting the top of this fall, as the drop is so powerful. One thrill-seeker who tried to back-flip here only just survived, and now warns others not to do it.
- Ingleton Falls (Yorkshire) is in the Dales, with unique limestone and rare bird visitors.
- Gaping Gill (Yorkshire) is also in the Dales, with a cave chamber so big you could fit a cathedral inside. Only experienced pot holers can visit as you have to wear a safety hat and be lowered down!
- Hardraw Force (Yorkshire) is yet another waterfall in the Dales. This is hundreds of millions of years old and features unique limestone in a curved shape.
- Aira Force (Cumbria) is in the Lake District, which houses a lot of England’s waterfalls. On Ullswater, it has an almost-as-high drop of 65 feet and Wordsworth wrote a poem about it (he came from nearby Grasmere, where he lived with his sister Dorothy).
- Lumb Falls Waterfall (Yorkshire) lies around 3 miles outside of Hebden Bridge. Locals have been trying to clean up the litter, as swimmers have even found broken glass bottles.
Wonderful waterfalls around the world
- Niagara Falls is on the border of New York State and Canada. The three waterfalls produce 4 million kilowatts of electricity.
- Victoria Falls (Africa) are the largest waterfalls on earth, known as ‘the smoke that thunders’ due to the mist and noise these waters produce. You can hear these waters from 25 miles away.
- Iguazu Falls (mostly in Argentina) are a series of 275 falls in the shape of a horseshoe, which make up the biggest waterfall system on earth. The rest are in Brazil.
- Angel Falls (Venezuela) are the largest continuous waterfalls in the world. And if you know your Wombles, you’ll be interested to know that these falls are a tributary of Carrao River (part of the Orinoco River).
