Lunedale is the dale, or valley, of the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

, on the east side of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

in England, west of

Middleton-in-Teesdale Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is in Teesdale, on the River Tees's north banks, and surrounded by the North Pennines. The town is between Eggleston and Newbiggin, Teesdale, Newbiggin, a few ...

. Its principal settlements are Grassholme,

Thringarth Thringarth is a hamlet in Lunedale, in the Pennines of 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 administrat ...

and Bowbank. Lunedale is also the name of a

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 ...

which covers most of the north side of the dale. The population of the parish was not counted separately at the 2011 census, but the combined population of Lunedale and Holwick parishes was 187. Most of the south side of the dale is in the civil parish of Mickleton. Lunedale was historically in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

, but since 1974 has been 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 ...

. The River Lune flows through Lunedale before reaching

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 ...

where it joins the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

. The river flows through two

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s on the way: Selset Reservoir and Grassholme Reservoir. Running roughly parallel to Lunedale to the south is Baldersdale. The

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

passes through Lunedale on its way to

, and crosses Grassholme Bridge over Grassholme Reservoir. A former railway

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

from the now-closed

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum has an 18th-century Silver Swan automaton exhibit ...

to Middleton-in-Teesdale line crosses the River Lune just north of Mickleton.

References

Valleys of County Durham {{Durham-geo-stub