Culture Trip 15: Low Force Waterfall

Not knowing what to do in my second week off, I asked my fellow North East bloggers what should I do? And they mentioned Low Force Waterfall in Durham, I had heard of High Force but not Low Force before so I was interested to visit.

Put in the postcode for the Bowlees Visitor Centre and off I went with the Hirst famalam to Low Force. It was a long yet beautiful drive, the views of the greenery were breathtaking- we even saw some sheep in the middle of the road.

We parked just outside the visitor centre in search of the waterfall, walking through fields I could not hear the water until I got closer to it.

Approaching the waterfall I noticed these sculptures, silhouettes or mirrors of people standing around the forest before the waterfall.

A rather eerie creation, I knew nothing of it so I was rather surprised to see it there. Turns out it is called Natural Creation by Rob Mullholland, it’s inspired by Low Force it is meant to celebrate the wonders of nature. Linking in with the shaping and forming of land and the people are reflecting on the relationship between nature and humans.

To find out more look at #lowforceart or @NorthPennAONB on social media.

Heading to the waterfall and it was beautiful- everyone was taking photos and I didn’t blame them as I was too.

Don’t worry, not just about myself.

I loved the way the waterfall ebbed and flowed and followed a natural pattern and the sound of the water crashing against the rocks and against the river sounded amazing.

Here is a slo-mo video of it flowing and as you can see, people were brave enough to jump in. It looked like it was an organised party doing it but it must have been such a buzz to jump into something that looks stunning but also terrifying at the same time.

The North Pennines is unspoiled and I believe it is an area of outstanding natural beauty.

You can walk over an I’m a Celeb type bridge and walk along to the other side of the water, where you can see another spectacular viewpoint.

Just look at the colours of nature, it looks like a painting doesn’t it. It felt wrong to be taking photos, not just because I was supposed to be off my phone but because I was in nature, having a phone and something digital- it just didn’t feel right.

But I could not resist taking photos, I wanted to for my blog and just for keeping the memories of my summer holidays.

I didn’t realise how long the river was and what you can see from each viewpoint. I had found a map from the visitor centre and there was a mention of a Stargazing Hammock, obviously not dark enough to see the stars I still wanted to check out the woodland bed.

Photo by Linda Hirst

And here it is, it was a little uncomfortable but still relaxing to sit there and listen and take in what nature had to offer.

Further up on the map, we could see there was another waterfall called Gibson’s Waterfall. If I am honest it looked too far to walk but feeling adventurous I wanted to explore and see what I could find.

And boy I am I glad that I did find it.

It isn’t as far as it looks on the map, so you can walk it and it is worth it.

Now I had read on the sign that it is called Gibson Cave after an outlaw escaped from Barnard Castle and his name was William Gibson. It is said that he escaped and he hid in that gave, whilst his comrades would lower food and dry clothes for him.

I don’t know how long he stayed down there but I can’t imagine it was very comfy.

After all that walking we needed some food, so we headed back to the Ford Kitchen at the visitor centre and had some scran, tea and some ice cream.

Photo by Linda Hirst

All in all, it was a nice day and I am glad the weather stayed fine and dry for us. It was just refreshing to get out and enjoy Northumberland nature.

If you do go (which you should) then make sure you take a fully charged phone and some walking boots.