Hellvellyn's Views
Lake District & North East England Photography
Aira Force, High Force & The Cascades, Ullswater, Cumbria.
Aira Beck is situated approx. 3 miles North-East of Glenridding on the shore of Ullswater. The car park is neatly hidden away amongst the trees beside the junction of the A592 (Northern lakeshore road) & the A5091 (to Troutbeck & the A66), so can be easily missed! On my first visit here, I was pleasantly surprised that Aira Beck boasts not only Aira Force (which I'd come to see) but also 2 other little-advertised falls; High Force and The Cascades. Three for the price of one is always good! As the beck provides an almost circular walk and I took so many pictures (even in the pouring rain), I have decided to put some on this page and more on the page Eastern Lake District .
The beck has provided a gentle, ascending walk through lush woodland since Victorian times. You could do the whole walk in under an hour if you wanted to but you'd miss a lot! Although there are gravel paths and steps, I'd definitely advise wearing sturdy shoes. The walk can become very slippery and muddy in wet weather too!
Aira Force
I was quite surprised these pics came out so well; apart from the heavy rain, there was a lot of spray.
The view from the top.
High Force below.
Some of the trickiest shots I've taken. Those rocks were VERY slippery!
The 3 pics below were taken from the other side of the beck.
The Cascades. I was still very impressed even after the first two falls.
Even up here, there's a lot of spray.
The view down from the top.
And upstream.
Dungeon Ghyll Force, Langdale, Cumbria.
Dungeon Ghyll Force, Langdale, Cumbria.
Dungeon Ghyll is another well maintained National Trust site. There's a large car park which of course is free for National Trust members. Toilets are situated at the top of the car park & a pub convieniently placed beside it. It's quite a climb up the falls, so bear that pub in mind on the way back.
As this was early February, I'd expected a great, gushing waterfall ahead. However, unusual for Britain never mind the Lake District, there had been a rather dry spell. I'll have to get back there when we've had some rain!
The view from the top; I couldn't believe it was so hot but still frost lying over the valley.
The viewSouth-East with Windermere in the distance.
Zooming in to Windermere.
High Force, Upper Teesdale, Co. Durham
High Force is situated 4 1/2 miles North-West of Middleton-in-Teesdale, Co. Durham and approx. 10 miles South-East of Alston, Cumbia, accessed by the B6277 from either direction. The drive itself (or walk if you prefer) provides stunning views of Teesdale and the eastern Cumbrian fells.
There is a good sized car & coach park across the road from the falls, with the High Force Hotel, gift shop and toilets next to it. Car parking costs £1.50 (all day!) and access to the falls costs £1 for adults & 50p for children & concessions.
Useful links: http://www.highforcehotel.com/ http://www.rabycastle.com/high_force.htm
As usual, I got slightly carried away with the camera at High Force, taking 130+ pics. I managed to cut these down to 43 for the site. Enjoy!
The first view of the falls from the long woodland path. You hear it long before you see it!
I liked it so much, I thought I'd frame that pic. Juat playing with the editing software 
Taken from the viewing platform area.
And around to the rocks.
It looked amazing with the sun shining through the fall & spray!
Moving further onto the rocks.
I was amazed to see some reflection in the water!
I love contrast; the dark clouds provided this!
Then the sun went in.
An arty shot through the trees with more sun.
The view down from the top........scarey!
The view upstream.
And down the falls.
Probably the most difficult shot: 21m up on the edge of a cliff!
Then again, maybe the next one was.
The view downstream.
