Langdon Beck is a hamlet in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Forest and Frith, in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, England. It is situated in upper

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, located principally in County Durham, North East England. It is one of the Durham Dales, which are themselves part of the North Pennines, the northernmost part of the Pennine uplands. The dale is named after ...

, between Forest-in-Teesdale and Harwood, halfway between Penrith and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. 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 Aves, bird in the grouse family. It is a Bird migration, sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in m ...

, 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 Harry John Neville Vane, 11th Baron Barnard (21 September 1923 – 3 April 2016), was an English peer and landowner in Northumbria and County Durham. Life Born at Raby Castle in County Durham, the son of Christopher Vane, 10th 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 on 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, located principally in County Durham, North East England. It is one of the Durham Dales, which are themselves part of the North Pennines, the northernmost part of the Pennine uplands. The dale is named after ...

for solar power with extra funding from

Durham County Council Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...

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

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 N ...

boulder scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. The term ''scree'' is appl ...

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 hamlet 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 Hamlets in County Durham