Cod Beck Reservoir — Local services in Osmotherley

The building of the reservoir was started in 1948 with final completion in 1953.2] The dam head height is listed as being 24.4 m (80 ft)[3] and an old pit at Crathorne was re-opened in 1950 to supply clay to line the dam head.[4]

The treatment works was closed down in 2006 after the deterioration of the quality of the water from the moorland and the presence of Cryptosporidium; water is now supplied to Northallerton and Thirsk, and to Osmotherley village, from Thornton Steward Reservoir.[5 Cod Beck Reservoir now operates as a compensation reservoir to maintain flow into the downstream reaches of Cod Beck and as such, it is still operated and maintained by the local water company.

The reservoir is surrounded by woodland and just upstream is the local beauty spot called Sheepwash. Because of its position at the north of the North York Moors, the site attracts many visitors from Darlington and Teesside.

Cod Beck Reservoir is open to the public for walking and enjoyment of the countryside but campfires, camping, illegal raves, fishing and swimming are prohibited for...

This place is beautiful however the reason it's getting 3 stars from me is because the parking spaces are very limited if you are travelling a fair distance to come here over the weekend or during the holidays you might want to reconsider because there can't be more than 40 parking bays and it was absolutely packed. I parked along the roadside with 16 other cars we weren't causing any obstruction to the traffic or damaging to the land and we all received a parking fine the traffic warden must have been rubbing his hands! My message to north yorkshire council is make more parking spaces there's plenty of room to do it! I can't see them doing this because they will be raking in hundreds of pounds a week by issuing fines they have ruined this place, it's a £70 fine that's reduced to £35 if you...

Lovely place for a short walk. You can do a loop of the reservoir which took us (a young couple at a leisurely stroll) about half an hour. The ground is flat and there is a flat gravel path so suitable for push chairs and we even saw a wheelchair user who had a trike style big front wheel attached to his chair.

Also looked like a great place to go fishing, with a few people fishing from kayaks. Most people seemed to be spinning for pike (we visited in October). I would guess a special permit is required, so use your Google-fu if you want to fish there.

There are loads and loads of warnings about not swimming. The water is very deep, very cold (even in summer) and currents caused by water being extracted are both deadly. Swimmers can and do regularly die. Don't swim in...