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The cliffs which tower above the valley are formed of
Kellaways Rock, a sandstone laid down 150 million years ago when the
area was covered by a shallow sea. You can still see the thin,
alternating layers of sand laid down by tides all those years ago. The
400 feet (120m) deep Newtondale Gorge was carved relatively recently A
mere 10,000 years ago, melting ice started to trickle then to flow, and
finally a torrent of millions of gallons of water carved this natural
wonder during a period of perhaps ten or twenty years.
Killing Nab Scar was the breeding ground of peregrine falcons in 1612 when the inhabitants of Goathland were ordered to look after them 'for the King's Use. Today, the plantations are the breeding ground of sparrow hawks who hunt along the rides and clearings in the forest. Other birds of prey may be seen further along the dale - including the very rare merlin. |
| Goathland Summit is about 550 feet ( 160m) above sea level and in the next 5½ miles the line drops almost 500 feet (150m) to the Esk Valley at Grosmont. Moorgates marks the point where Stephenson's original 1836 route diverges from the present line. To the west you will see the embankment, the gate-keeper's cottage and the 'Cattle Arch'. This bridge was built to let cattle move freely between the coast and the Plain of York, some 25 miles to the west: before the coming of the railway there was neither fence nor wall to restrict such movement over the moors. |  Moorgates |
 Northdale Scar |
10,000 years ago these moors were covered in natural forest. Early man cleared and burned areas to provide grazing for wild and domestic animals, Today the moors are managed in more or less the same way: controlled burning helps the growth of young heather shoots on which sheep and grouse feed. The small burnt areas (or swiddens') provide a patchwork of young and old heather making ideal nesting conditions for red grouse and other wild birds. Fen Bog Nature Reserve still has a remnant of the dense woodland which flourished here 10,000 years ago. It was mainly birch, alder and willow 5,000 years ago much of the woodland began to die out and it was replaced by the reed swamp still to be seen in the drainage channels. Today Fen Bog is a unique mixture of bog and fen land plants and is noted for its dragonflies and many bird species. Fen Bog is over 38 feet (11.8m) deep and was one of the major difficulties Stephenson had to face when building the railway. His navvies sank brushwood, timber and even sheep fleeces filled with heather to produce a causeway on which to lay the track. By 1859 these foundations had rotted and the long hot summer caused the rails to buckle. On Saturday 8th August, an engine and two carriages plunged into the bog, with the train crew gallantly rescuing all the passengers from a sticky end. |
Try a high definition map of the area
From Multimap
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