place

Baldersdale Woodlands

Forests and woodlands of County DurhamSites of Special Scientific Interest in County DurhamUse British English from February 2026

Baldersdale Woodlands is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It consists primarily of ancient, semi-natural woodland growing on steep valley slopes, including scree, on both banks of the River Balder over a stretch of some 3 km, upstream (i.e. west) of the village of Cotherstone. The site has a rich faunal assemblage and the woodland and associated stretch of the river is home to a variety of birds, including dipper and goosander. In part, the site derives its importance from the proximity of similarly protected sites in other valleys in the River Tees catchment area; the Shipley and Great Woods SSSI occupies a similar position in the valley of the Tees immediately north of Cotherstone. The condition of the site was last assessed by Natural England in September 2009, when it was mostly rated as "favourable"; a small area, just over 10 percent of the total area, is suffering from cattle grazing but was rated as "recovering".

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Baldersdale Woodlands (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 54.575555555556 ° E -2.0130555555556 °
placeShow on map

Address


DL12 9ET
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

River Balder
River Balder

The Balder is an English river that rises on the eastern slope of Stainmore Common in the Pennine Chain and flows eastwards for about 23.4 kilometres (14.5 mi), before joining the River Tees at Cotherstone. The River Balder is in County Durham, but until 1974, it was in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The head of the valley is a bleak moorland, with hills around it exceeding 500 feet (150 m). the name is first recorded in the 13th century, and is thought to derive from an Old English personal name (B(e)aldhere), with possibly the river valley being named Baldersdale first, and the river being named later. For the first 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), the watercourse runs as Balder Beck, before meeting Black Beck and forming the River Balder proper at NY886173. The River Balder enters Balderhead Reservoir about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the source, at 336 metres (1,102 ft) above sea level. It spills into two more reservoirs further down Baldersdale: Blackton Reservoir and Hury Reservoir. The scenery becomes gentler as it descends past Baldersdale Youth Hostel. The distinctive flat peak of Goldsborough to the south is passed before the valley begins to open out as the river enters Blackton Reservoir at 285 metres (935 ft). The course of the valley carries on at a virtually exactly east direction as the River Balder enters Hury Reservoir at about 260 m (850 ft), passing the village of Hury which lies to the north. The river now begins to twist and turn and is crossed by the grade II listed, nine-arched Balder Railway Viaduct, which was used by the Barnard Castle to Middleton-in-Teesdale railway line before it was closed. It finally joins the River Tees at Cotherstone, at a height of about 162 metres (531 ft).