THE sensitive but important peat bogs of the North Pennines came under the spotlight during the first Wild Wednesday session of the summer in upper Teesdale.
Presented by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership (AONB), at Bowlees Visitor Centre, the weekly activity days aim to teach children about the geology and nature of the upper dale.
The children learned from AONB engagement officer Kerryanne Higgens that bogs are created by layers and layers of sphagnum moss.
More than a dozen youngsters who turned out for the session were told as the moss is compressed and decomposes, it forms peat.
She said: “It takes 1,000 years to create one metre of peat.”
Trainee officer Beth Lightburn added that peat bogs are important in combatting climate change by storing carbon as well as preventing floods by the moss acting like a sponge.
