God's Bridge

Sleightholme Beck Gorge – The Troughs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the County Durham district of south-west County Durham, England. The site covers a gorge in the valley of Sleightholme Beck between the hamlet of Sleightholme and the confluence with the River Greta, some 3 km upriver from the village of Bowes. The trough is 200m east of the border with Wytham Moor, part of the neighbouring Bowes Moor SSSI. The site has both biological and geological interest and has been designated of national importance in the Geological Conservation Review. The gorge is incised through the Namurian Great Limestone and is of particular interest because beds of sandstone in the middle of the section show structures characteristic of a shoreline, with the features of a river delta and barrier bar. The shallow soils that have developed on ledges and crevices in the limestone and on the scree slopes support a vegetation in which ferns such as maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes, green spleenwort, A. viride, and brittle bladder fern, Cystopteris fragilis, are prominent. Woodland plants such as wood sorrel, Oxalis acetosella, wood millet, Milium effusum, and dog's mercury, Mercurialis perennis, have established themselves in the shadier crevices, while rue-leaved saxifrage, Saxifraga tridactylites, shining cranesbill Geranium lucidum, and common whitlow grass, Erophila verna, occur in the most exposed situations. On the most inaccessible valley slopes, there is open woodland in which yew, Taxus baccata, is abundant. Dipper and common sandpiper have been recorded from the site and probably breed in the area.

RAF Bowes Moor was a chemical warfare agent (CWA) storage site run by the Royal Air Force during and after the Second World War. The site was to the north of the village of Bowes in what is now County Durham, England. The Bowes Moor geographical feature runs from the north to the south west of the village. The Royal Air Force used the site to stock its chemical weapon supply, most of which was disposed of in situ by burning. The site, which closed in 1947, is known for the dangerous chemicals which leached into the soil. The only unit to have officially worked at Bowes Moor was No. 81 Maintenance Unit RAF (1941–1947). The Bowes Loop of the Pennine Way goes through the site.

Bowes Castle is a medieval castle in the village of Bowes in County Durham, England. Built within the perimeter of the former Roman fort of Lavatrae, on the Roman road that is now the A66, the early timber castle on the site was replaced by a more substantial stone structure between 1170 and 1174 on the orders of Henry II. A planned village was built alongside the castle. Bowes Castle withstood Scottish attack during the Great Revolt of 1173–74 but was successfully looted by rebels in 1322. The castle went into decline and was largely dismantled after the English Civil War. The ruins are now owned by English Heritage and managed as a tourist attraction. There is free admission during daylight hours.

Mere Beck Meadows, formerly known as Willoughby Hall Meadows, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of County Durham, England. It consists of three hay meadows, situated on the south side of Hury Reservoir, immediately below the Blackton Reservoir dam. The site is important as preserving a rich assemblage of plant species, in a habitat that is becoming increasingly scarcer as a result of intensive agricultural practices. A wide variety of flowering plants is found, many in abundance, such as wood cranesbill, Geranium sylvaticum, meadow saxifrage, Saxifraga granulata, melancholy thistle, Cirsium helenioides, and great burnet, Sanguisorba officinalis.

Bowes is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle. In 2021 the parish had a population of 442.

Bowes railway station was situated on the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway between Barnard Castle and Kirkby Stephen East.

Hury Reservoir is a reservoir in County Durham, England situated in Baldersdale. The reservoir is located about four miles south of Middleton-in-Teesdale and about three miles west of Cotherstone. It supplies water for Teesdale and is owned by Northumbrian Water. It gets its name from the nearby village of Hury. It is almost adjoined to Blackton Reservoir to the immediate west. The dam 'bridges' the River Balder which flows in an easterly direction to meet the River Tees at Cotherstone. Hury Reservoir was under construction in 1891–92.

Botany Hill, formerly known as Botany Quarry, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of south-west County Durham, England. It occupies a position on both sides of How Gill, just under 1 km north of the village of Hury, in Baldersdale. The site is important as the type locality of the Botany Limestone, a widespread marker horizon that is key to an understanding of the stratigraphy of the Namurian sediments of the North Pennines and Northumberland Trough.

East Briscoe is a village in Baldersdale, in the Pennines district of County Durham, England. It is traditionally located in the North Riding of Yorkshire but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District it was transferred to County Durham for administrative and ceremonial purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

Gilmonby is a village in the Pennines in County Durham, England. it is situated a short distance to the south of Bowes, in the vicinity of Barnard Castle. The population taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Information is kept in the Bowes parish details. It is traditionally located in the North Riding of Yorkshire but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District it was transferred to County Durham for administrative and ceremonial purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

Deepdale, sometimes spelt Deep Dale, is a side valley of Teesdale in County Durham, England. In its lower reaches, just west of the town of Barnard Castle, the valley is well wooded, and is a nature reserve, known for its bird life and a population of otters. Deepdale Beck, a tributary of the River Tees, runs through the valley. By the beck is the Great Stone, a glacial erratic from Shap in Cumbria, one of the largest erratics in Teesdale. The valley was once crossed by the Deepdale Viaduct, 2 miles (3 km) west of Barnard Castle. The viaduct was designed by Thomas Bouch (of the Tay Bridge disaster fame) and built in 1861 to carry the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway. It closed in 1962 and was dismantled in 1963. At the foot of the dale the Deepdale Aqueduct, which is also a footbridge, crosses the River Tees. It was built in 1898, and is a Grade II listed building. Deerbolt army camp Startforth used Deepdale as a training ground until the early 1960s. The road at the bottom of the dale was tarmac with concrete bollards on each side, as you went up the road there was 2 Nissan army huts on the left side of the river a little further up on the right hand side of the road was ditches which are still there but filled with bog plants, these used to have barbed wire over them so the soldiers had to crawl under the wire through the ditches. I think there was 4 in the open area on the right of the road. The road then dips down to a concrete ford and onto the rifle ranges. The open land was used for parking and there was rifle shooting ranges aiming towards the bank next to the back of a concrete roofed building. This was used as a store, the targets were pulled up on top of the bank next to the building.

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".