Langdon Beck is a village in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England. It is situated in upper

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls ...

, between

Forest-in-Teesdale Forest-in-Teesdale is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated in upper Teesdale, on the north side of the Tees between Newbiggin and Langdon Beck Langdon Beck is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated in upper Teesda ...

and Harwood, halfway between Penrith and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. It is a stronghold for the

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

, one of the few sites for them in the North of England.

History

Historically, Langdon Beck hosted one of the largest agricultural shows in North Teesdale. However the shows abruptly stopped in the early 20th century for an unknown reason. In 2000, they were revived as an annual event. Prizes were traditionally awarded by John Vane, 11th Baron Barnard until his death in 2016. The newly revived event has taken place annually except in 2001 due to the

2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001 caused a crisis in British agriculture and tourism. This epizootic saw 2,000 cases of the disease in farms across most of the British countryside. Over 6 million cows and ...

. During the outbreak, there was concern that Langdon Beck's only hostel could close due to lack of tourism. It received a grant of £1,000 from

Teesdale District Council Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls b ...

for solar power with extra funding from

Durham County Council Durham County Council is a local authority administering all significant local government functions in the unitary authority area of County Durham in North East England. The council area covers part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, e ...

. Langdon Beck's War Memorial to soldiers from the village who fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

is located at St James the Less Church. Langdon Beck has a geological feature called Cronkley Scar, which is a

Whin Sill The Whin Sill or Great Whin Sill is a tabular layer of the igneous rock dolerite in County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Nort ...

boulder scree formed from molten magma pushing up marble through igneous rock over millions of years. Langdon Beck is used as the base of a start of several hiking trails. The village features the only major concentration of black grouse in England. Climbing the fells during winter is viewed as hazardous when there is snow on the ground.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Durham