Natural England - Moor House - Upper Teesdale: what makes it special?

Moor House - Upper Teesdale: what makes it special?

Moor House - Upper Teesdale is one of England’s largest National Nature Reserves.

Artwork inspired by the reserve © Natural England

Running along the backbone of England, around the headwaters of the River Tees, the reserve is made up of 8,800 hectares and encompasses an almost complete range of upland habitats typical of the North Pennines. These include lower lying hay meadows, rough grazing and juniper woods, as well as limestone grassland, blanket bogs and summit heaths of the high fells. Nowhere else in Britain is there such a diversity of rare habitats in one location.

The reserve is particularly well known for the plants that originally colonised the high Pennines after the last ice age, and have survived here ever since. You can also see rare rock formations such as outcropping sugar limestone and the Great Whin Sill.

Through the seasons

Spring is when the reserve comes to life. Lambs are born on the upland farms, and wading birds such as lapwing, curlew and oystercatchers head to these high pastures to look for sites to nest and raise their chicks. The skies are soon full of birds swooping and calling in spectacular aerobatic displays – first to attract mates but later on these calls turn to alarm in order to distract predators away from the eggs and young chicks.

These birds make their nests on the ground, the chicks relying on camouflage to keep them safe. Both eggs and young are extremely vulnerable to trampling and attack by predators.

As spring turns to summer more flowers appear, and young wader chicks can be seen running around in the long grass searching for food.

Traditional farming methods mean this is one of the best places to see colourful hay meadow flowers like globeflower, wood crane’s-bill, orchids and yellow rattle. The grass and flowers are cut later in summer and turned into hay to keep the sheep and cattle fed over winter.

By August the heather is in flower, turning the hills into a bright haze of purple. Red grouse live up here all year round, but in the summer you can also see visiting golden plover, their haunting cries echoing across the moors.

As autumn arrives and the days turn colder and shorter, the wading birds return to their winter feeding grounds on the coast. It’s now that fires can often be seen on the moors as gamekeepers carry out controlled burns on patches of heather to make sure there is both short, young heather and taller, older plants so the grouse and other birds have plenty of food and shelter. In the winter the cattle are shut up in their sheds, feeding off the dried hay grown the previous summer. Winters can be harsh in Upper Teesdale, with snow and strong cold winds.

Wildlife

Spring gentian - Upper Teesdale is the only place in England where you can find this tiny plant with bright blue flowers.

Black grouse - if you get up early enough you may be able to spot the rare black grouse at their ‘leks’. The male ‘blackcocks’ put on an impressive display of dancing at dawn to attract the female ‘greyhens’.

Juniper - England’s largest juniper wood is around High Force. The juniper berries ripen to provide food for mice, voles and migrating birds such as fieldfares and redwings.

The reserve is also a stronghold for upland breeding waders such as lapwing, curlew, redshank, golden plover, while yellow wagtails and ring ouzel may also be found.

Some of the best examples of England’s now rare Northern (Upland) Hay meadows are found on the Reserve.

Help to look after the Reserve

  • Follow the Country Code, in particular, keep dogs on a lead to avoid disturbance to ground-nesting birds and grazing livestock.

  • Hay meadows produce a valuable crop and birds nest there. Please don’t use them for ball games or picnics!

  • Please do not camp or light fires.

  • Please observe any Open Access restrictions – these are in place to protect the special wildlife of the area.