Trent Rivers Trust - Trent Catchment Fact File

Catchment Fact file


TRENT CATCHMENT***** FACT FILE

	The Trent Aegir along with the Severn Bore are naturally occurring tidal waves unique in the British Isles. These natural phenomena occur in the lower tidal reaches and are a consequence of the large tidal range, although the Trent Aegir is most impressive in times of low water flow and high spring tides. The Trent Aegir is named after the god of the seashore or ocean in Norse mythology - and like the Scandinavian sailors in the myths, river people would fear the coming of the aegir as it is very unpredicatable and would sometimes surface to destroy ships. It usually appears during high spring tides, but as with the Severn Bore, its size can be affected by winter floods and the resulting rise in water level. Want to see the Aegir? Then go here to the environment Agency's timetable of both the Trent aegir and the Severn bore.

	The Trent is tidal for its first 53 miles from Trent Falls, where the river joins the Humber, to the first of the nine navigation weirs, at Cromwell Weir just North of Newark on Trent.

	The River Trent is the only English river to flow South, East and North for large sections.

	The River Trent is England's third longest river at 274 kilometers or 171 miles after the Rivers Thames and Severn

	Previously known as Trisantonia by the Romans and in the 8th Century as Treonte

	The River Trent is navigable for 95 miles between Trent Falls and Shardlow where the Trent and Mersey Canal joins the river.

	The Trent Valley Way follows the river from Thrumpton to West Stockwith and was opened in 1989

Source of the River Trent 1935	The River Trent originates on Biddulp Moor at a point a few yards to a new housing estate in the Staffordshire village of Biddulph Mootr, at a height of 700' above sea level. It is easily accessible by footpaths at the end of Trently Drive or the northern end of Barrage Lane.	Source of the River Trent today

	The river falls by over 500' in the first 50 miles and most of that before its confluence with the Fowlea Brook only 11 miles from the source

FISH PAGES	35 species of fish can be found in the River Trent including Atlantic Salmon, bream, carp, chub, dace, eels, gudgeon and pike

	In 1101 and 1581 the River Trent ran dry. This is not to be confused with the Rivers Lathkill and Manifold which both have stretches where the river disapears into underground passages during times of low flow.

Obstacles on the River Trent	There are 8 major navigation weirs with lock gates plus the giant flood defense barrier of Holme Sluices adjacent to the National Watersports Centre's canoe slalom course.

Obstacles on the River Derwent	During the industrial revolution water power preceded steam as the major industrial power source. A major section of the River Derwent has been designated as a World Heritage Site. For more information on this go to the Derwent Valley Mills

Obstacles on the River Dove	The River Dove was harnessed in the same way as the River Derwent to drive local industry and riverside mills, though the weirs on the Dove are mostly less challenging, for returning fish, than those of the River Derwent they still represent major challenges.

	Cromwell Weir was constructed in 1911 this opened the river to deep draught boats and was followed in 1926-7 by the weirs and associated locks at Holme, Stoke Bardolph, Gunthorpe and Hazelford. The navigation locks maintain a minimum depth of 7 feet and the river channel is regularly dredged in addition.

	The Fossdyke Navigation Canal joins the Trent to its Lincolnshire counterpart the River Witham, construction of the Foss Dyke was started by the Romans during the reign of the Emporor Hadrian in 120AD.

	In the eighty miles between Trent Falls and Trent Bridge in Nottingham there are 8 road bridges crossing the River Trent. One of which, Dunham Bridge, is a toll bridge.

	Construction of the current Trent Bridge started in 1871 to replace the bridge which had stood for over 700 years, several arches of the original bridge are still preserved and can be seen in the centre of one of the traffic islands on the southern approach road to the new bridge.

	The Trent and Mersey canal was opened in 1777 and connected the Trent at Wilden Ferry ( better known today as Shardlow) to the River Mersey and provided the first East West link.

Reservoirs	Severn Trent Water PLC Extracts water from many of the rivers in the catchment in order to store water for at its many reservoirs. Clicking the link will take you to the page where Severn Trent Water PLC publish weekly figures of the water levels at its reservoirs.


Charles Cotton's Temple on the banks of the River Dove at the gateway to Beresford Dale	Izaak Walton biographer, and author of The Compleat Angler , son of a yeoman, was born at Stafford. Of his earlier years little is known. He carried on business as a hosier in London, in which he made a modest competence, which enabled him to retire at 50, the rest of his long life of 90 years being spent in the simple country pleasures, especially angling, which he so charmingly describes. He was twice married, first to Rachel Floud, a descendant of Archbishop Cranmer, and second to Ann Ken, half-sister of the author of the Evening Hymn. His first book was a Life of Dr. Donne (1640), followed by Lives of Sir Henry Wotton (1651), Richard Hooker (1662), George Herbert (1670), and Bishop Sanderson (1678). All of these, classics in their kind, short, but simple and striking, were collected into one vol. His masterpiece, however, was The Compleat Angler , the first ed. of which was published in 1653. Subsequent ed. were greatly enlarged; a second part was added by Charles Cotton ( q.v. ). With its dialogues between Piscator (angler), Venator (hunter), and Auceps (falconer), full of wisdom, kindly humour, and charity, its charming pictures of country scenes and pleasures, and its snatches of verse, it is one of the most delightful and care-dispelling books in the language. His long, happy, and innocent life ended in the house of his son-inlaw, Dr. Hawkins, Prebendary of Winchester, where in the Cathedral he lies buried.

Izaak Walton's statue overlooks the River Sow	Izaak Walton was not a fly fisherman, the nearest he got to being a fly fisherman was dapping a live mayfly on the River Dove. It was not until the fifth edition that Charles Cotton added part two of the Compleat Angler with his detailed fly fishing references. The book is obviously out of copyright now, but expect to pay thousands for an original first edition. Electronic copies of the text are freely available from the Great Books and Classics web site.	Charles Cotton