Cod Beck Reservoir is a man-made lake situated within the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

National Park and near the village of Osmotherley in the English county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. The reservoir is named after Cod Beck, which is the small river that fills it.

History

The building of the reservoir was started in 1948 with final completion in 1953. The dam head height is listed as being and an old pit at Crathorne was re-opened in 1950 to supply clay to line the dam head. The treatment works was closed down in 2006 after the deterioration of the quality of the water from the moorland and the presence of

Cryptosporidium ''Cryptosporidium'', sometimes informally called crypto, is a genus of apicomplexan parasitic alveolates that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (cryptosporidiosis) that primarily involves watery diarrhea (intestinal cryptosp ...

; water is now supplied to Northallerton and Thirsk, and to Osmotherley village, from

Thornton Steward Reservoir Thornton Steward Reservoir is a reservoir north of the village of Thornton Steward in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Yorkshire Water, and supplies drinking water to Swaledale, Wensleydale, Northallerton, and Thirsk. Thornton Steward ...

. Cod Beck Reservoir now operates as a compensation reservoir to maintain flow into the downstream reaches of Cod Beck and as such, it is still operated and maintained by the local water company. The reservoir is surrounded by woodland and just upstream is the local beauty spot called Sheepwash. Because of its position at the north of the

, the site attracts many visitors from

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

and

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

. Cod Beck Reservoir is open to the public for walking and enjoyment of the countryside but campfires, camping, illegal raves, fishing and swimming are prohibited for public safety.

Ecology

Cod Beck Reservoir is recognised as being important to toads. Common Toads hibernate on the moorland and have been subject to death on the road that runs alongside the reservoir. Volunteers go out on mild wet nights in February for a two to four-week period to rescue the toads. Yorkshire Water have similarly said that they will only release water in drought conditions if it is of benefit to the environment downstream to alleviate the plight of the toads. Cod Beck also supports Brown Trout, Grayling, Bullhead,

Eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

Stone loach The stone loach (''Barbatula barbatula'') is a European species of fresh water ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. It is one of nineteen species in the genus ''Barbatula''. Stone loaches live amongst the gravel and stones of fast flowin ...

Minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the families Cyprinidae and Leuciscidae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens. Smaller fish in the subfamily Leusciscidae are co ...

and Lamphrey. Evidence of

Otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s has also been noted.

Facilities

* Picnic area * Car park nearby

Activities

* Walking – a circular path around the reservoir provides a 45-minute walk * Private canoeing * The

Lyke Wake Walk The Lyke Wake Walk is a challenge walk across the highest and widest part of the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England. The route remembers the many corpses carried over the moors on old coffin routes and the ancient burial ...

starts opposite the northern end of the reservoir

References

{{authority control Reservoirs in North Yorkshire Osmotherley, North Yorkshire