The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range in northern England and southern Scotland. A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys Northern England, The North, The North of England or (less commonly The North Country refers to the parts of England north of an ill-defined line Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. They separate the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East. North West England is one of the nine official Regions of England. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. North-East England is one of the nine official Regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear

Often said to be the "backbone of England",^[1][2][3] they form an unbroken range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, through the Yorkshire Dales, around the northern and eastern edges of Greater Manchester, the West Pennine Moors of Lancashire and Cumbrian Fells to the Cheviot Hills on the Anglo-Scottish border. In Human anatomy, the vertebral column ( backbone or spine) is a column of 34 Vertebrae the Sacrum, Intervertebral The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle The Yorkshire Dales (also known as The Dales) is the name given to an upland area in Northern England. Greater Manchester is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2 The West Pennine Moors is an area of approximately 90 square miles of moorland and reservoir scenery located in Lancashire, between the towns of Chorley Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy The Cheviot Hills are a range of rolling hills straddling the England / Scotland border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The Anglo-Scottish border (or English-Scottish border) runs for 96  Miles nbsp(154  km) between North of the Aire Gap the Pennines give out a western spur into Lancashire, the Forest of Bowland and south of the gap is a similar spur, the Rossendale Fells. The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren Gritstone Fells deep valleys and Peat Moorland, ^[4]

It is an important water catchment area with numerous reservoirs in the head streams of the major river valleys. The region is widely considered to be one of the most scenic areas of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The North Pennines have been declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) as has Nidderdale, while portions of the Pennines are incorporated into the Peak District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Northumberland National Park. The North Pennines is the northernmost part of the so-called 'backbone of England ' the range of hills which runs through the centre of the northern half of England An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB is an area of countryside with significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland Nidderdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park in North Yorkshire, England. The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater The Yorkshire Dales (also known as The Dales) is the name given to an upland area in Northern England. Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. ^[5] Britain's first long distance footpath, the Pennine Way, runs the full length of the Pennine chain and is 429 kilometres (268 mi) long. Long-distance trails (or long-distance tracks paths footpaths or Greenways are the longer recreational right-of-way routes mainly through rural areas used for non-motorised The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs 429 kilometres (268 mi from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire ^[6]

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Toponomy 3 Geology and landscape 4 Drainage 4.1 Reservoirs 5 Altitude 6 Character Areas of the Pennines 7 Dales 8 Demography 9 Economy 10 Main Settlements 11 Transport 12 History 12.1 Early inhabitants 12.2 Celtic and Roman times 12.3 Early Middle Ages 12.4 Other history 13 Language 14 Folklore and customs 15 See also 16 References 17 External links

Etymology

The earliest written reference to the name is in the 18th century forgery De Situ Britanniae. De Situ Britanniae ( The Description of Britain) is a fictional description of the peoples and places of ancient Britain. The name was arguably influenced by the name of the Apennine Mountains of Italy, whose acquaintance many English gentry made on the Grand Tour at the same period and whose name is attributed to the same Celtic linguistic root. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Grand Tour was the traditional travel of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means

Toponomy

The names of towns and geographical features retain some evidence of the Celts who were here before, and after, the Romans: for example the town Penrith, the fell Pen-y-ghent, the river Eden, or the name Cumbria. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Penrith is a Market town in the county of Cumbria, England. It is in the Eden Valley just north of the River Eamont, and lies less than Pen-y-ghent is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales. It is one of the so-called Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy More commonly the local names result from the later Anglo-Saxon and Norse settlements. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south And in both Yorkshire and Cumbria many Norse words not commonly used in standard English are part of everyday speech: for example, gill (narrow steep valley), beck (brook or stream), fell (hill), dale (valley). Beck' s birth name was Bek see the sources given This is not a typo and should not be changed without good reason Fell (from the Old Norse fjall, 'mountain' is a word used to refer to Mountains or certain types of mountainous landscape in Scandinavia ^[7]

Geology and landscape

The Pennines form an anticline which extends in a north-south direction, consisting of Millstone Grit and the underlying Carboniferous Limestone. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In Structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core Gritstone — otherwise called Millstone grit — is a Sedimentary rock composed of coarse sand grains with inclusions of small stones The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period about 359 Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The limestone is exposed at the surface to the north of the range in the North Pennines AONB and to the South in the Derbyshire Peak District. In the Yorkshire Dales this limestone exposure has led to the formation of large underground cave systems and watercourses, known as "gills" and "pots" in the Yorkshire dialect. The Yorkshire dialect refers to the varieties of English used in the Northern England historic county of Yorkshire. These potholes are more prevalent on the eastern side and are amongst the largest in England; notable examples are the chasms of Gaping Gill, which is over 350 ft (107 m) deep and Rowten Pot, which is 365 ft (111 m) deep. Gaping Gill (also known as Gaping Ghyll) is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the mountain of Ingleborough in North Yorkshire, a 105 Rowten Pot is one of several hill top entrances into the West Kingsdale System in North Yorkshire, England. The presence of limestone has also led to some unusual geological formations in the region, such as the limestone pavements of the Yorkshire Pennines. A limestone pavement is a natural Karst landform consisting of a flat incised surface of exposed Limestone that resembles an artificial pavement Between the Northern and Southern areas of exposed limestone, between Skipton and the Peak, lies a narrow belt of gritstone country. Here the shales and sandstones of the Millstone Grit form high hills occupied by moors and peat-mosses with the higher ground being uncultivable and barely fit for pastures.

The landscape of the Pennines is generally upland areas of high moorland indented by the more fertile valleys of the region's various rivers. Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas characterised by low growing vegetation on Acidic soils

Drainage

The Pennines constitute the main watershed in northern England, dividing the eastern and western parts of the country. A drainage divide, water divide, divide or (outside North America) watershed is the line separating neighbouring Drainage basins The rivers Eden, Ribble, and Mersey all rise in the Pennines and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea. The River Eden is an English River that flows through Cumbria on its way to the Solway Firth. The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in the North of England. See also Mersey River (Tasmania and Mersey River (Nova Scotia. The Irish Sea ( Irish: Muir Éireann or Muir Meann; Scottish Gaelic: Muir Eireann Welsh: Môr Iwerddon, On the other side of the watershed, the rivers Tyne, Tees, Wear, Swale, Ure, Calder, Aire, Don, and Trent also rise in the region but flow eastwards to the North Sea. The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South Tyne. The Tees is a river in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the Pennines, and flows eastwards for about 85 miles The River Wear (wɪə("wee-er" is a river in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards mostly through County Durham, The River Swale is a River in Yorkshire, England and a major tributary of the River Ure, which itself becomes the River Ouse, emptying The River Ure is a river in North Yorkshire, England. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only one of the famous Yorkshire For other Rivers Calder see River Calder (disambiguation. The River Calder is a River in West Yorkshire, in northern The River Aire is a major River in Yorkshire, England of length 114km (71m This article is about the river in South Yorkshire England For other rivers with the same name see Don River (disambiguation. The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire between Biddulph and Biddulph Moor. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf.

Reservoirs

Kielder Water

Ladybower Reservoir

Altitude

The mountains are not very high and are often referred to as fells. Kielder Water is a large man-made Reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. Fell (from the Old Norse fjall, 'mountain' is a word used to refer to Mountains or certain types of mountainous landscape in Scandinavia The highest is Cross Fell in eastern Cumbria, at 2,930 feet (893 m) while other principal peaks include Mickle Fell 2,585 ft (788 m), Whernside 2,415 ft (736 m), Ingleborough 2,372 ft (723 m), High Seat 2,328 ft (710 m) and Wild Boar Fell 2,324 ft (708 m), both in Mallerstang, Pen-y-ghent 2,274 ft (693 m), and Kinder Scout 2,087 ft (636 m). At 893 m Cross Fell is the highest point in the Pennine Hills of Northern England. Mickle Fell is a Mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. Whernside is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales and is one of the Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. Ingleborough is the second highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales. Wild Boar Fell is a Mountain (or more accurately a Fell) in Mallerstang on the eastern edge of Cumbria, England. Mallerstang is a Civil parish in the extreme east of Cumbria - and geographically a Dale at the head of the upper Eden Valley. Pen-y-ghent is a mountain in the Yorkshire Dales. It is one of the so-called Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside Kinder Scout is a Moorland Plateau (and Mountain) in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in the United

Character Areas of the Pennines

England has been divided into areas with similar landscape character. These have been called Joint Character Areas (JCAs). The JCAs are a widely recognised national spatial framework but the boundaries of the JCAs are not precise and many of the boundaries should be considered as broad zones of transition. ^[8]

The Pennines have ten Joint Character Areas. These are: -

1. Border Moors and Forests^[9]
2. Tyne Gap and Hadrian's Wall^[10]
3. North Pennines^[11]
4. Howgill Fells^[12]
5. Yorkshire Dales^[13]
6. Bowland Fells^[14]
7. Southern Pennines^[15], including the West Pennine Moors
8. Dark Peak^[16]
9. White Peak^[17]
10. South West Peak^[18]

The Bowland area of the Pennines is dominated by a central upland landform of deeply incised gritstone fells. There are vast tracts of heather covered peat moorland and blanket bog on these fells. The lower slopes of the fells are dotted with stone built farms and small villages and are criss crossed by drystone walls enclosing reclaimed moorland pasture. Cloughs, steep sided wooded valleys, link the upland and lowland landscapes. To the south-east of the area are extensive coniferous plantations and the eastern limestone areas support high quality species rich meadows. ^[19]

Dales

• Airedale
• Dovedale
• Nidderdale
• Ribblesdale
• Swaledale
• Teesdale
• Weardale
• Wensleydale
• Wharfedale
• Rochdale

Demography

It is a relatively sparsely populated region by English standards. Airedale is a geographic area in Yorkshire, England, corresponding to the river valley of the River Aire (pronounced air) The River Dove is the principal river of the south-western Peak District, in the East Midlands of England and is around 65 km / 40 Nidderdale is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park in North Yorkshire, England. The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in the North of England. Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Northern England. There is a separate article for the local government district of Teesdale. Weardale is a dale or Valley, of the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, in England. Wensleydale is the Valley (dale of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England. Wharfedale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the valley of the River Wharfe. Rochdale is a large Market town in Greater Manchester, England

Economy

The main economic activities include sheep farming, quarrying and tourism. Sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of Domestic sheep, and a subcategory of Animal husbandry. A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or Minerals are extracted Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Main Settlements

• Hawes
• Keld
• Muker
• Reeth
• Stanhope
• Thwaite

Transport

The three main gaps in the Pennines have always afforded communications links between the areas to the east and west. Hawes is a small Market town in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. Keld may refer to Keld Cumbria Keld North Yorkshire Keld, a masculine given name in Danish Muker is a village in Swaledale, one of the Yorkshire Dales, England. Reeth is a small town in Yorkshire Dales within the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England and principal settlement of Swaledale See also Thwaites Thwaite could be Thwaite, Norfolk England Thwaite Suffolk, England Thwaite St Mary These gaps are the Tyne Gap between Carlisle and Newcastle upon Tyne followed by the A69 road, the Stainmoor Gap and the Aire Gap linking Lancashire and Yorkshire via the valleys of the rivers Aire and Ribble. Carlisle (pronounced CARLYLE(emphasis on the first syllable is a City in northern England the largest settlement in Cumbria. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England The Pennines are also traversed by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the M62 motorway. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a Canal in the north of England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. The M62 motorway is a west&ndasheast trans-Pennine Motorway in northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull Elsewhere, the Pennines remain a formidable barrier to be crossed by tunnel or roads which may be blocked by snow for several days in winter.

Rail services are operated along the Huddersfield line between Huddersfield railway station and Victoria and Piccadilly stations in Manchester. The Huddersfield Line is the name given to one of the busiest rail services on the West Yorkshire MetroTrain network in northern England. Huddersfield railway station serves the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Manchester Victoria station is the second of Manchester 's mainline railway stations Manchester Piccadilly station, known locally as just Piccadilly, is the principal railway station of Manchester in England. The name of the train-operating company First TransPennine Express comes from such journeys - its trains connect the North West with the North East. First TransPennine Express is a train operating company in the United Kingdom.

History

Early inhabitants

The area contains many examples of Bronze Age settlements, and evidence of Neolithic settlement (including many stone circles or henges, such as Long Meg and Her Daughters. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos A stone circle is an ancient monument Such a monument is not always precisely circular and often forms an ellipse or a setting of four stones laid on an arc of a circle henge is a prehistoric Architectural structure. In form it is a nearly circular or oval-shaped flat area over 20 Metres (65 feet) in diameter Long Meg and Her Daughters, also known as Maughanby Circle is the name of a Bronze Age Stone circle near Penrith in the English county )^[20]

Celtic and Roman times

The Pennines would have come under the tribal federation of the Brigantes. The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of Northern England and a significant part of the Midlands This tribal federation was made up of mainly small tribes who inhabited the Pennines and cooperated on defence and external affairs. The Brigantes later evolved into an early form of kingdom.

During Roman times, the Brigantes came under Roman domination. The Romans exploited the Pennines for the natural resources and wild animals found there.

Early Middle Ages

The Pennines were a major obstacle for Anglo-Saxon expansion west. Even when they were conquered they still retained a distinct Semi-Celtic identity, which they still hold today. During the Dark Ages the Pennines came under many Celtic and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It is believed that the area first came under the kingdom of Rheged. Rheged IPA r̥ɛgɛd was a Brythonic kingdom of Sub-Roman Britain, whose inhabitants spoke Cumbric, a dialect of Brythonic closely related There were later three kingdoms which were solely based in the Pennines though. These were: The Kingdom of the Pennines and later the Kingdom of the Pennines broke up and was succeeded by Dunoting/Kingdom of the North Pennines and The Peak/Kingdom of the South Pennines. Dunod Fawr is a figure known from the Welsh Genealogies believed to have been a noble in the post-Roman Hen Ogledd. The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater

During Norse times the Pennines were lightly settled by Viking Danes in the east and Norwegian Vikings in the west. The Vikings left a lot of influence on placenames, even though they did not settle in great numbers. When England was unified the Pennines were incorporated into England.

Other history

The Pennines were the major route for the Jacobite attack on England. They also became highly exploited in the Victorian age.

Language

The language used in pre-Roman and Roman times was British. During the Early Middle Ages, the Cumbric language developed. The Early Middle Ages is a period in the History of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire spanning roughly five centuries from AD 500 Cumbric was the Brythonic Celtic language, often considered to be a Dialect of Welsh, spoken in Northern England and southern However, little evidence of Cumbric remains, so it is difficult to ascertain whether or not it was a language in its own right or simply a dialect of Old Welsh. Old Welsh (Hen Gymraeg is the label attached to the Welsh language from the time it developed from the Brythonic language generally thought to be in the period It is also uncertain as to the extent of the region in which Cumbric was spoken.

During Anglo-Saxon times (the area was settled by Anglian peoples of Mercia and Northumbria, rather than the Saxon peoples of southern England) Celtic speech remained in most areas of the Pennines longer than it did in the surrounding areas of England. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Eventually, the Celtic tongue of the Pennines was replaced by Old English.

In Norse times, Viking settlers brought their languages of Old Norse, Old Danish (mainly in the Yorkshire Dales and parts of the Peak District) and Old Norwegian (mainly in the western Pennines). Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the The Yorkshire Dales (also known as The Dales) is the name given to an upland area in Northern England. The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Old Norwegian is a term used for the Old Norse language as spoken and written in Norway in the Middle Ages. With the eventual consolidation of England by the Saxon kingdom of Wessex, the pure Norse speech died out in England, though it survived in the Pennines longer than in most areas. West Saxon redirects here For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex (disambiguation. However, the fusion of Norse and Old English was an important part of the formation of Middle (and hence, Modern)English, and many individual words of Norse descent remain in use in local dialects, such as that of Yorkshire, and in local place names. The Yorkshire dialect refers to the varieties of English used in the Northern England historic county of Yorkshire.

Norman French had little effect on the language of the Pennines though. The Anglo-Norman language is a term traditionally used to refer to the variety of French used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles following the All of the above languages have had an influence, either large or small on the modern placenames of the Pennines. The modern language of the Pennines is English.

Folklore and customs

The folklore and customs are mostly based on Celtic and Viking customs and folklore. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas Many customs and stories have their origin in Christianised pagan traditions.

See also

• Yorkshire three peaks
• Geology of the United Kingdom
• Geology of Yorkshire

References

• Arthur Raistrick, 'The Pennine Dales', Eyre Methuen Ltd 1968, ISBN 041326760

External links

• EBK Dark age Britain maps Number 1

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