Sleightholme Beck Gorge – The Troughs

Sleightholme Beck Gorge - The Troughs
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Country England
Region North East
District Teesdale
Location NZ418473
 - coordinates GB-ENG 54°30′10″N 2°3′12″W / 54.50278°N 2.05333°W / 54.50278; -2.05333Coordinates: GB-ENG 54°30′10″N 2°3′12″W / 54.50278°N 2.05333°W / 54.50278; -2.05333
Area 7.5 ha (18.5 acres)
Notification 1976
Management Natural England
Area of Search County Durham
Interest Biological
Geological
Map of England and Wales with a red dot representing the location of the Sleightholme Beck Gorge - The Troughs SSSI, Co Durham
Location of Sleightholme Beck Gorge - The Troughs SSSI, Co Durham
Website: Map of site

Sleightholme Beck Gorge – The Troughs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Teesdale district of south-west County Durham, England. The site covers a gorge in the valley of Sleightholme Beck between the hamlet of Sleightholme and the confluence with the River Greta, some 3 km upriver from the village of Bowes.

The site has both biological and geological interest and has been designated of national importance in the Geological Conservation Review.

The gorge is incised through the Namurian Great Limestone and is of particular interest because beds of sandstone in the middle of the section show structures characteristic of a shoreline, with the features of a river delta and barrier bar.[1]

The shallow soils that have developed on ledges and crevices in the limestone and on the scree slopes support a vegetation in which ferns such as maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes, green spleenwort, A. viride, and brittle bladder fern, Cystopteris fragilis, are prominent. Woodland plants such as wood sorrel, Oxalis acetosella, wood millet, Milium effusum, and dog's mercury, Mercurialis perennis, have established themselves in the shadier crevices, while rue-leaved saxifrage, Saxifraga tridactylites, shining cranesbill Geranium lucidum, and common whitlow grass, Erophila verna, occur in the most exposed situations. On the most inaccessible valley slopes, there is open woodland in which yew, Taxus baccata, is abundant.

Dipper and common sandpiper have been recorded from the site and probably breed in the area.

See also


References

  1. ↑ "Sleightholme Beck Gorge - The Troughs" (PDF). English Nature. 1986. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
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