At the foot of these mountains in the XVI-XVII centuries, large deposits of coal were discovered, which subsequently began to be developed. Today, one third of the state’s coal is mined here, and water and energy from mountain rivers are used for industrial purposes. With all this, these territories are the most sparsely populated in the country.
This peculiar mountainous area has the name - Pennine Mountains.
What are they, where are they and what is their feature? The answers to these and other questions can be found after reading this article.
General information
The rocks of the mountains are mainly represented by sandstones and limestone. There are deposits of coal and peat bogs. The discovery, as noted above, of coal deposits (including the Yorkshire coal basin) was the impetus for the development of areas adjacent to the mountains.
The Pennine Mountains have established a national park called the Rocky Territory in their vast territories. Geologically, mountains are Caledonian folding, formed about 400 million years ago. Glaciers in the Pleistocene, spreading from the Scottish highlands, left a huge amount of moraine accumulations, which greatly influenced the formation of the relief.
The largest settlements are Sheffield, Bradford, at the very foot of the mountains - Leeds and Manchester.
Geographical position
The mountains stretch across the northern counties of Great Britain (about 98%) and Southern Scotland (about 2%).
These natural structures, stretching from the border with Scotland from north to south almost to Birmingham, are the main watershed of Northern England. Some rivers originating in the Pennines flow westward and flow into the Irish Sea. These are Ideas, Merzy, Irvel and Ryble. And part of the rivers carry their waters to the east, to the North Sea. These are the Trent, Tyne, Air, Tees and Don rivers.
About the origin of the name
The name of the mountains located in the north of England comes from the word “penn” (Celtic), translated as “peak, mountain”.
All toponyms - the Pennine Mountains, the Pennine Alps, the Apennine Mountains and the Pennine Mountains in the Western Carpathians - are of the same Celtic origin. But Titus of Libya (Roman historian) elevates the name to the name of the Celtic deity - Pennin, which is correlated with Mars.
However, one does not contradict the other. After the Romans left Britain (in 470-525 AD), in the so-called Ancient North Pennines existed - an independent British kingdom. Later it was divided into the southern part (more suitable for human life) with the name Peak and the northern part - Dunaut and Dunoting.
Mountains description
The Pennine Mountains are a rocky region where there are not very high (no more than 900 meters) mountains. They separate England northwest from the north-east of the country and Yorkshire.
The length of the mountains, covering an area of 31 thousand square meters. km, it is 356 kilometers from north to south, 160 km from west to east. The highest peak is Cross Fell (893 meters). The peaks of low mountains are flattened, and this slightly contradicts the generally accepted name Rocky Mountains. They look more like large hills, and yet they are the main watershed and main ridge in Northern England.
The largest cities are located only at the foot of the mountains and in the foothills, and farms with villages are found mostly on the lower slopes - where there are meadows suitable for pasture. The relatively low-key beauty of gray boulders, moss bogs and heather wastelands protects the national parks created in these places (there are 3 in total). The area highlighted in its beauty is the Northern Pennines.
Nature and climate
The peaks of the Pennine Mountains, blown by cold winds, are devoid of trees, so the area is a bit dull sight. Nature here is represented by riding bogs, bracken, tall hard-leaved grasses, mosses, peat bogs, boulders and lichens. Broad-leaved forests are found only on the slopes.
The weather in the mountains is more rainy, cold and foggy than in all of England. The marine climate, habitual for the northeast, at the main peak of Cross Fell and at the River Tees is replaced by a subarctic. In the foothills, he is like in all of England. Most of the precipitation falls on the northern slopes.
January temperature averages - 1 ° С, July - + 10 ° С. The average annual rainfall is about 1200 mm.
