Bedburn Beck
Bedburn Beck in Hamsterley Forest
Bedburn Beck is located in County Durham
Bedburn Beck
Location of the mouth within County Durham
Location
CountryEngland
CountyCounty Durham
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationWoodland Fell
Mouth 
 • location
River Wear
 • coordinates
54°41′05″N 1°48′00″W / 54.684743°N 1.800°W / 54.684743; -1.800
Length16.8 km (10.4 mi)
Basin size76 km2 (29 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • locationBedburn
 • average1.23 m3/s (43 cu ft/s)

Bedburn Beck is a 16.8 kilometres (10.4 mi) long, upper tributary of the River Wear in County Durham, England. The beck and its tributaries, including the Euden, Harthorpe and South Grain becks, have a catchment of 76 square kilometres (29 sq mi), much of which is covered by the coniferous Hamsterley Forest.[1][2][3][4][5]

Course

Its headwaters rise on the high ground of Woodland Fell, where it is known as the Spurlswood Beck which flows in an easterly direction through a rocky gill of the same name. It then enters Hamsterley Forest, where it is joined by the Euden Beck and becomes known as the Bedburn Beck.[1]

Passing beside the hamlet of Redford before being joined by the Ayhope or South Grain Beck, it then reaches the village of Bedburn where it is bridged by a minor road. Beyond the village it meets the Harthorpe Beck, before descending into the Wear valley between Hamsterley and Witton-le-Wear.[2]

Hydrology

The flow of the beck has been measured at a gauging station in its lower reaches at Bedburn since 1959. The catchment to the station of 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi) measures 99% of the total catchment of the beck, and yields an average flow of 1.23 cubic metres per second (43 cu ft/s).[6][7]

The highest river level recorded at the station occurred on the 17 July 2009, with a height of 2.31 metres (7 ft 7 in) and a flow of 79 cubic metres per second (2,800 cu ft/s).[8]

The catchment has an average annual rainfall of 894 millimetres (35.2 in) and a maximum altitude of 533 metres (1,749 ft) near Pawlaw Pike at the western edge of the basin.[9]

Land use within the basin is rural, consisting of moorland, grassland and the coniferous Hamsterley Forest.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Bedburn Beck from Euden Beck to Wear". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Bedburn Beck from Source to Euden Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Euden Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Harthorpe Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "South Grain Beck". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "24004 - Bedburn Beck at Bedburn Info". National Rivers Flow Archive. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "24004 - Bedburn Beck at Bedburn Daily Flow Data". National Rivers Flow Archive. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "24004 - Bedburn Beck at Bedburn Peak Flow Data". National Rivers Flow Archive. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  9. 1 2 "24004 - Bedburn Beck at Bedburn Catchment Info". National Rivers Flow Archive. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
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