Cotter Force
| Cotter Force | |
| Yorkshire | |
|---|---|
 Cotter Force | |
| River: | Cotterdale Beck |
| Fall: | 33 feet |
| Type: | Step |
| SD848919 | |
| Co-ordinates: | 54°19’21"N, 2°14’7"W |
Cotter Force is a small waterfall on Cotterdale Beck, a minor tributary of the River Ure, near the mouth of Cotterdale, a side dale of Wensleydale, in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
The Falls and Cotterdale Beck
Cotterdale Beck has several other, but smaller falls in its course, before joining the Ure, but Cotter Force is the largest.[1]
The waterfall is not visible from the road, but it takes only a short walk to reach it. It comprises a series of six steps each its own small waterfall with the largest single drop being about 5 feet. The force is narrow at 3 feet at the top widening to 15 feet at the bottom. A short path allows easy access from the A684 near Holme Heads Bridge approximately 2 miles west of Hawes.
Cotter Force is accessible by wheelchair users and less mobile visitors, after The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust carried out an upgrade to the access route[2]
References to the Force
- The artist J M W Turner sketched here in July 1816 for his Yorkshire Sketchbook.
- The noted 19th-century etching artist Richard Samuel Chattock is known to have created two works of Cotter Force in 1864. Both etchings now reside in The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco[3]