WEST TEES DISTRICT, 1 29 



columns. The total depth of the waterfall is two hundred feet, 

 and nowhere else in England have we so deep a fall upon so 

 large a stream. The best point of view for the fall as a whole 

 is the open ground a short distance below it upon the West- 

 morland side of the Tees : and from the Birkdale sheep-fold 

 the wooden bridge which spans the upper part of the waterfall, 

 firm enough in reality, looks frail and dangerous. Above the 

 fall massive angular reddish-brown basaltic crags rise steeply to 

 a considerable height and on the Durham side of the stream 

 they sweep round the edge of the fell for fully a mile, forming 

 the range of broken and precipitous cliffs which is known by the 

 name of Falcon Glints. 



From the foot of the Caldron Snout to the sea the Tees forms 

 the northern boundary of Yorkshire. Its general direction 

 during the earlier part of its course is at first east and afterwards 

 south-east. From the Caldron Snout to the junction of the 

 Tees and Lune the distance is about ten miles, and this is what 

 may be considered as the Upper Teesdale portion of our drain- 

 age district. A rocky river channel ten miles in length with its 

 stream declining in level during that distance about 600 feet, 

 and a compact range of hills also gradually sloping towards the 

 east, the summit of the ridge rising to an elevation of from 1000 

 to 1200 feet above the stream, these are the general physical 

 features which it presents. 



The extreme distance between the Tees and the Lune is not 

 more than four miles. The rhomboidal mass of moorland which 

 intervenes between the two streams culminates in a long ridge of 

 limestone with patches of millstone grit over it at both its eastern 

 and western extremities. This is Mickle Fell,* the highest of 

 the Yorkshire summits, and the top of the western patch of grit- 

 stone is 2596 feet above the sea-level. The view from the 

 summit on a clear day is very extensive. On the north-west 

 there is a sudden fall in the direction of Maize Beck and across 



* The three Craven peaks, Whemside, Ingleborough and Penyghent are better known 

 than Mickle Fell, and are often given as the highest Yorkshire hills. The height of Whern- 

 side is 2414 feet, of Ingleborough 2373, and of Penyghent 2273. 



Rot. Trans. V.N.U., Vol. 3. J 



