Сочинение: The National Parks of Great Britan
Dunkery Beacon, with heather in bloom
Uncultivated heath and moorland cover about a
quarter of Exmoor landscape. Some moors are covered by a variety of grasses and
sedges, while others are dominated by heather. There are also cultivated areas
including the Brendon Hills, which lie in the east of the National Park. There
are also 32.4 square miles (84 km2) of woodland, comprising a
mixture of broad-leaved (oak, ash and hazel) and conifer trees. Horner
Woodlands and Tarr Steps woodlands are prime examples. The country’s highest
beech wood, 1, 200 feet (366 m) above sea level, is at Birch Cleave at Simonsbath.
At least two species of whitebeam tree: Sorbus subcuneata and Sorbus
‘Taxon D’ are unique to Exmoor. These woodlands are home to lichens, mosses and
ferns. Exmoor is the only national location for the lichens Biatoridium
delitescens, Rinodina fimbriata and Rinodina flavosoralifera,
the latter having been found only on one individual tree.
A herd of Exmoor pony foals
Sheep have grazed on the moors for more than
3,000 years, shaping much of the Exmoor landscape by feeding on moorland
grasses and heather. Traditional breeds include Exmoor Horn, Cheviot and Whiteface
Dartmoor and Greyface Dartmoor sheep. Devon ruby red cattle are also farmed in
the area. Exmoor ponies can be seen roaming freely on the moors. They are a landrace
rather than a breed of pony, and may be the closest breed to Equus ferus
remaining in Europe. The ponies are rounded up once a year to be marked and
checked over. In 1818 Sir Richard Acland, the last warden of Exmoor, took
thirty ponies and established the Acland Herd, now known as the Anchor Herd,
whose direct descendants still roam the moor. In the Second World War the moor
became a training ground, and the breed was nearly killed off, with only 50
ponies surviving the war. The ponies are classified as endangered by the Rare
Breeds Survival Trust, with only 390 breeding females left in the UK. In 2006 a Rural Enterprise Grant, administered locally by the South West Rural
Development Service, was obtained to create a new Exmoor Pony Centre at
Ashwick, at a disused farm with 17 acres (6.9 ha) of land with a further 138 acres
(56 ha) of moorland.
Red deer have a stronghold on the moor and can
be seen on quiet hillsides in remote areas, particularly in the early morning. The
moorland habitat is also home to hundreds of species of birds and insects. Birds
seen on the moor include Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Curlew, European
Stonechat, Dipper, Dartford Warbler and Ring Ouzel. Black Grouse and Red Grouse
are now extinct on Exmoor, probably as a result of a reduction in habitat
management, and for the former species, an increase in visitor pressure.
Beast
of Exmoor
The Beast of Exmoor is a cryptozoological cat
(see phantom cat) that is reported to roam Exmoor. There have been numerous
reports of eyewitness sightings, however the official Exmoor National Park website lists the beast under “Traditions, Folklore, and Legends”,and the BBC
calls it “the famous-yet-elusive beast of Exmoor. Allegedly." Sightings
were first reported in the 1970s, although it became notorious in 1983, when a South
Molton farmer claimed to have lost over 100 sheep in the space of three months,
all of them apparently killed by violent throat injuries. It is reported as
being between 4 and 8 feet (1.2 and 2.4 m) from nose to tail. Descriptions of
its colouration range from black to tan or dark grey. It is possibly a Cougar
or Black Leopard which was released after a law was passed in 1976 making it
illegal for them to be kept in captivity outside zoos. In 2006, the British Big
Cats Society reported that a skull found by a Devon farmer was that of a Puma,
however, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) states,
“Based on the evidence, Defra does not believe that there are big cats living
in the wild in England. ”
The attractions of Exmoor include 208 scheduled
ancient monuments, 16 conservation areas, and other open access land as
designated by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Exmoor receives
approximately 1.4 million visitor days per year. Many come to walk on the moors
or along waymarked paths such as the Coleridge Way. Attractions on the coast
include the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, which connects Lynton to
neighbouring Lynmouth, where the East and West Lyn River meet. Woody Bay, a few
miles west of Lynton, is home to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, a narrow
gauge railway which connected the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth to Barnstaple,20
miles (32 km) away. Further along the coast, Porlock is a quiet coastal town
with an adjacent salt marsh nature reserve and a harbour at nearby Porlock Weir.
Watchet is a historic harbour town with a marina and is home to a carnival,
which is held annually in July.
Inland, many of the attractions are centred
around small towns and villages or linked to the river valleys, such as the
ancient clapper bridge at Tarr Steps and the Snowdrop Valley near Wheddon Cross,
which is carpeted in snowdrops in Februaryand, later, displays bluebells. Withypool
is also in the Barle Valley. The Two Moors Way passes through the village. As
well as Dunster Castle, Dunster’s other attractions include a priory, dovecote,
yarn market, inn, packhorse bridge, mill and a stop on the West Somerset
Railway. Exford, lies on the River Exe. Brendon, in the Brendon Valley is noted for the annual Exmoor folk festival.
Exmoor has been the setting for several novels
including the 19th-century Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor
by Richard Doddridge Blackmore, and Margaret Drabble’s 1998 novel The Witch
of Exmoor. The park was featured on the television programme Seven
Natural Wonders twice, as one of the wonders of the West Country.
8. Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales (also known as The
Dales) is the name given to an upland area, in Northern England.
The area lies within the historic county
boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North
Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and Cumbria. Most of the area falls within the
Yorkshire Dales District National Park, created in 1954, and now one of the
twelve National parks of England and Wales (not including the South Downs which
is due to become one).
The Dales is a collection of river valleys and
the hills in between them, rising from the Vale of York westwards to the
hilltops of the main Pennine watershed (the British English meaning). In some
places the area even extends westwards across the watershed, but most of the
valleys drain eastwards to the Vale of York-into the Ouse and then the Humber.
The word dale comes from a Nordic/Germanic
word for valley, and occurs in valley names across Yorkshire (and northern
England generally) but since the creation of the Yorkshire Dales National park,
the name Yorkshire Dales has come to refer specifically to these western dales
and the area of dales and hills east of the Vale of York is now called the North
York Moors after the National Park created there
Yorkshire Dales National Park
In 1954 an area of 1,770 square kilometres (680
sq mi) was designated the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Most of the National
Park is in North Yorkshire, though part lies within Cumbria. However, the whole
park lies within the traditional boundaries of Yorkshire, divided between the North
Riding and the West Riding. The park is 50 miles (80 km) north east of Manchester;
Leeds and Bradford lie to the south, while Kendal is to the west and Darlington to the east.
Over 20,000 residents live and work in the
park, which attracts over eight million visitors every year. The area has a
large collection of activities for visitors. For example, many people come to
the “Dales” for walking or exercise. The National Park is crossed by several long-distance
routes including the Pennine Way, the Dales Way, the Coast to Coast Path and
the latest national trail - the Pennine Bridleway. Cycling is also popular and
there are several cycleways.
The Park has its own museum, the Dales
Countryside Museum, housed in a conversion of the Hawes railway station in Wensleydale
in the north of the Park. The park has 5 visitor centres located in major
destinations in the park. These are at:
Most of the dales in the Yorkshire Dales are
named after their river or stream (eg Arkengarthdale, formed by Arkle Beck). The
best-known exception to this rule is Wensleydale, which is named after the town
of Wensley rather than the River Ure, although an older name for the dale is
Yoredale. In fact, valleys all over Yorkshire are called “ (name of river) +dale”-but
only the more northern Yorkshire valleys (and only the upper, rural, reaches) are
included in the term “The Dales". For example, the southern boundary area
lies in Wharfedale and Airedale. The lower reaches of these valleys are not
usually included in the area, and Calderdale much further south, would never
normally be referred to as part of “The Dales" even though it is a dale,
is in Yorkshire, and the upper reaches are as scenic and rural as many valleys
further north.
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