Product Code Database
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are an highland mountain range mainly located in Northern England. Sometimes described as the "Vertebral column of England" because of its length and position, the range runs from Derbyshire and Staffordshire in the North Midlands to Northumberland in North East England. From the River Tyne in the north, the range extends south through the North Pennines, Yorkshire Dales, South Pennines, and Peak District to end near the valley of the River Trent. (1975). 011880720X, HMSO. 011880720X The Border Moors and Cheviot Hills, which lie beyond the Tyne Gap, are included in some definitions of the range.
The range is divided into two by the Aire Gap, a wide pass formed by the valleys of the rivers River Aire and River Ribble. There are several spurs off the main Pennine range west into Greater Manchester and Lancashire, comprising the Rossendale Fells, West Pennine Moors, and Bowland Fells. The Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in Cumbria are also sometimes considered to be Pennine spurs. The Pennines are an important water catchment area, with numerous in the head streams of the river valleys.
Most of the range is protected by national parks and national landscapes (formerly Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Running north to south, and including the Cheviots, the range is within Northumberland National Park, the North Pennines National Landscape, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Nidderdale National Landscape, the Forest of Bowland National Landscape, and the Peak District. The only significant unprotected area is that between Skipton and Marsden.
Britain's oldest long-distance footpath, the 268-mile (429 km) Pennine Way, runs along most of the Pennines.
Following an 1853 article by Arthur Hussey, it has become a common belief that the name derives from a passage in The Description of Britain (), an infamous literary forgery concocted by Charles Bertram in the 1740s and accepted as genuine until the 1840s. In 2004, George Redmonds reassessed this, finding that numerous respected writers passed over the origin of the mountains' name in silence even in works dedicated to the topological etymology of Derbyshire and Lancashire. He found that the derivation from Bertram was widely believed and considered uncomfortable. In fact, Redmonds found repeated comparisons with the Italian Apennines going back at least as early as William Camden, many of whose placenames and ideas Bertram incorporated into his work. Bertram was responsible (at most) with popularizing the name against other contenders such as Daniel Defoe's "English Andes". His own form of the name was the "Pennine Alps" ( Alpes Peninae), which today is used for Pennine Alps of the continental Alps. Those mountains (the area around the St. Bernard Pass) derive their name from the Latin Alpes Pœninæ whose name has been variously derived from the Carthaginians,Livy, History of Rome, Book V, §35. a local god,Livy, History of Rome, Book XXXI, §38. and Common Celtic peninus. The St. Bernard Pass was the pass used in the invasions of Italy by the Gauls Boii and Lingones in 390 BC. The etymology of the Apennines themselves—whose name first referred to their northern extremity and then later spread southward—is also disputed but is usually taken to derive from some form of Common Celtic pen or ben ("mountain, head").
Various towns and geographical features within the Pennines have names of at least partly Celtic origin, including Pennington, Penrith, Pen-y-ghent, Pendle Hill, the River Eden, and Cumbria. More commonly, local names result from Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen settlements. In Yorkshire, Teesdale, and Cumbria, many words of Norse language origin, not commonly used in standard English, are part of everyday speech: for example, gill/ghyll (narrow steep valley), beck (brook or stream), fell (hill), and dale (valley). Northumbrian/borders terms are used in South Tynedale, Weardale, and Allendale, such as burn (stream), cleugh (ravine), hope (valley), law (hill) and linn (waterfall).
The main range of the Pennines start from its southern end at the Weaver Hills in the Peak District. The southern foothills of the range merge into the valley and Drainage basin of the River Trent, separating the range from the Midland Plains to the south. The Pennines continue northwards across the Peak District and adjoin the South Pennines approximately around the Tame Valley, Standedge and Holme Valley. The South Pennines are separated from the Forest of Bowland by the River Ribble, and include the Rossendale Valley and West Pennine Moors in the west. The range continues further north into the Aire Gap which separates the Yorkshire Dales from the South Pennines to the south and the Forest of Bowland to the southwest. The main range then continues northwards across the Yorkshire Dales to the Stainmore where it adjoins the North Pennines. The range continues into its northern end at the River Tyne, separating it from the Border Moors and Cheviot Hills across the Anglo-Scottish border.
Although the Pennines cover the area between the Peak District and the Tyne Gap, the Pennine Way affects perceptions of the southern and northern extents of the defined area. The southern end of the Pennines is said to be in the High Peak of Derbyshire at Edale, the start of the Pennine Way, but the main range continues south across the Peak District to the Weaver Hills, with its foothills merging into the Trent Valley. This encompasses eastern Cheshire, northern and eastern Staffordshire, and southern Derbyshire. Conversely, the Border Moors and Cheviot Hills, separated by the Tyne Gap and Whin Sill to the south, along which run the A69 and Hadrian's Wall, and River Tweed to the north, are not part of the Pennines but, perhaps because the Pennine Way crosses them, they are treated as such.
Most of the Pennine landscape is characterised by upland areas of high moorland indented by more fertile river valleys, although the landscape varies in different areas. The Peak District consists of hills, plateaus and valleys, divided into the Dark Peak with moorlands and gritstone edges, and the White Peak with limestone gorges. The South Pennines is an area of hills and moorlands with narrow valleys between the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales. Bowland is dominated by a central upland landform of deeply incised gritstone covered with tracts of heather-covered peat moorland, blanket bog and steep-sided wooded valleys linking the upland and lowland landscapes. The landscape is higher and more mountainous in the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines. The Yorkshire Dales are characterised by valleys, moorlands and fells while the North Pennines consist of plateaus, moorlands, fells, edges and valleys, with most of the higher peaks in the west.
On the eastern side of the Pennines, the rivers Tyne, River Wear, and River Tees all drain directly to the North Sea. The River Swale, River Ure, River Nidd, River Wharfe, River Aire, Calder and Don all flow into the Yorkshire Ouse, and reach the sea through the Humber Estuary.
The River Trent flows around the southern end of the Pennines and northwards on the eastern side taking water from tributaries, principally the Dove and Derwent. The Trent drains the east and west sides of the southern Pennines, also reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. The Trent and Ouse meet and enter the Humber at Trent Falls. Maximum discharge through the Humber can reach 1,500 m3/s (53,000 cu ft/s).
More snow falls on the Pennines than on surrounding lowland areas due to the elevation and distance from the coast; unlike lowland areas of England, the Pennines can have quite severe winters.
The northwest is amongst the wettest regions of England and much of the rain falls on the Pennines. The eastern side is drier than the west—the rain shadow shields northeast England from rainfall that would otherwise fall there.
Precipitation is important for the area's biodiversity and human population. Many towns and cities are located along rivers flowing from the range and in northwest England the lack of natural aquifers is compensated for by reservoirs.
Water has carved out limestone landscapes in the North Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and Peak District, with gorges and caves present in the Yorkshire Dales and Peak District. In some areas, precipitation has contributed to poor soils, resulting in part in moorland landscapes that characterize much of the range. In other areas where the soil has not been degraded, it has resulted in lush vegetation.
For the purpose of growing plants, the Pennines are in 7 and 8, as defined by the USDA. Zone 8 is common throughout most of the UK, and zone 7 is the UK's coldest hardiness zone. The Pennines, Scottish Highlands, Southern Uplands and Snowdonia are the only areas of the UK in zone 7.
Each of the structures consists of Carboniferous limestone overlain with Millstone Grit. The limestone is exposed at the surface in the North Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District. In the Dales and the White Peak, limestone exposure has caused the formation of large cave systems and watercourses. In the Dales the caves or potholes are known as "pots" in the Yorkshire dialect. They include some of the largest caves in England at Gaping Gill, more than deep and Rowten Pot, deep. Titan in the Peak District, the deepest shaft known in Britain, is connected to Peak Cavern in Castleton, Derbyshire, the largest cave entrance in the country. Erosion of the limestone has led to geological formations, such as the limestone pavements at Malham Cove.
Between the northern and southern areas of exposed limestone between Skipton and the Dark Peak is a belt of exposed gritstone. Here the shales and sandstones of the Millstone Grit form high hills occupied by moorland covered with bracken, peat, heather and coarse grasses; page 4 and page 5, Marginal Upland Grazing Sutton Moor, Domesday Reloaded, BBC 1986 the higher ground is uncultivable and barely fit for pasture.
The uplands were controlled by the tribal federation of the Brigantes, made up of small tribes who inhabited the area and cooperated on defence and external affairs. They evolved an early form of kingdom. During Roman Britain, the Brigantes were dominated by the Romans who exploited the Pennines for their natural resources including the wild animals found there.
The Pennines were an obstacle for Anglo-Saxon expansion westwards, although it appears the Anglo-Saxons travelled through the valleys. During the Dark Ages the Pennines were controlled by Celtic and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It is believed that the north Pennines were under the control of the kingdom of Rheged.
During Norse times the Pennines were settled by Viking Danes in the east and Norwegian Vikings in the west. The Vikings influenced place names, culture and genetics. When England was unified the Pennines were incorporated. The mix of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Viking heritage resembled much of the rest of northern England and its culture developed alongside its lowland neighbours in northwest and northeast England. The Pennines were not a distinct political polity, but were divided between neighbouring counties in northeast and northwest England; a major part was in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Although the Forest of Bowland is mostly rural, the main economic activities in the area include farming and tourism. In the Yorkshire Dales, tourism accounts for £350 million of expenditure every year while employment is mostly dominated by farming, accommodation and food sectors. There are also significant challenges for managing tourism, farming and other developments within the National Park. The main economic activities in the North Pennines include tourism, farming, timber and small-scale quarrying, due to the rural landscape.
Further south the A58 road traverses the Calder Valley between West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester reaching between Littleborough and Ripponden, while the A646 road along the Calder Valley between Burnley and Halifax reaches following valley floors. In the Peak District the A628 Woodhead road links the M67 motorway in Greater Manchester with the M1 motorway in South Yorkshire and Holme Moss is crossed by the A6024 road, whose highest point is near Holme Moss transmitting station between Longdendale and Holmfirth.
The Pennines are traversed by the M62 motorway, the highest motorway in England at on Windy Hill near Junction 23.
Three trans-Pennine canals built during the Industrial Revolution cross the range:
The first of three was completed by the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway in 1845, engineered by Charles Vignoles and Joseph Locke. At the time of its completion in 1845, Woodhead 1 was one of the world's longest railway tunnels at a length of 3 miles 13 yards (4,840 m); it was the first of several trans-Pennine tunnels including the Standedge and Totley Tunnel tunnels, which are only slightly longer. The first two tunnels were replaced by Woodhead 3, which was longer at 3 miles 66 yards (4860m). It was bored for the overhead electrification of the route and completed in 1953. The tunnel was opened by the transport minister Alan Lennox-Boyd on 3 June 1954. It was designed by Sir William Halcrow & Partners. The line was closed in 1981.
The London and North Western Railway acquired the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway in 1847 and built a single-line tunnel parallel to the canal tunnel at Standedge with a length of 3 miles, 57 yards (4803 m). Today rail services along the Huddersfield line between Huddersfield and Victoria and Piccadilly stations in Manchester are operated by TransPennine Express and Northern. Between 1869 and 1876 the Midland Railway built the Settle-Carlisle Line through remote, scenic regions of the Pennines from near Settle to Carlisle passing Appleby-in-Westmorland and other settlements, some a distance from their stations. The line has survived, despite difficult times and is operated by Northern Rail.
The Trans Pennine Trail, a long-distance route for cyclists, horse riders and walkers, runs west–east alongside rivers and canals, along disused railway tracks and through historic towns and cities from Southport to Hornsea (). It crosses the north–south Pennine Way () at Crowden-in-Longdendale.
The North Pennines AONB just north of the Yorkshire Dales rivals the national park in size and includes some of the Pennines' highest peaks and its most isolated and sparsely populated areas. Other AONBs are Nidderdale east of the Yorkshire Dales, and the Bowland Fells, including Pendle Hill, west of the Yorkshire Dales.
The only significant unprotected section is the area between Skipton and Marsden.
During Anglo-Saxons times the area was settled by Anglian peoples of Mercia and Northumbria, rather than the Saxon people of Southern England. Celtic languages remained in most areas of the Pennines longer than it did in the surrounding areas of England. Eventually, the Celtic tongue of the Pennines was replaced by early English language as Anglo-Saxons and Vikings settled the area and assimilated the Celts.
During the Viking Age Scandinavian settlers brought their language, Old Norse. The fusion of Norse influences into Old English was important in the formation of Middle English and hence Modern English, and many individual words of Norse descent remain in use in local dialects, such as that of Yorkshire, and in local place names.
Limestone areas of the Pennines in the White Peak, Yorkshire Dales and Upper Teesdale have been designated as nature reserves or Important Plant Areas by the botanical conservation charity Plantlife, and are nationally important for their wildflowers.
Large areas of heather moorland in the Pennines are managed for driven shooting of wild red grouse. The related and declining black grouse is still found in northern parts of the Pennines. Other birds whose English breeding strongholds are in the Pennines include golden plover, common snipe, Eurasian curlew, dunlin, merlin, short-eared owl, ring ouzel and twite, though many of these are at the southern limit of their distributions and are more common in Scotland.
|
|
