River Ribble – Walton le Dale
The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in the North West of England.
The River Ribble begins at the confluence of the Gayle Beck and Cam Beck near the famous island viaduct at Ribblehead, in the shadow of the Yorkshire three peaks (the mountains of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent). It flows through Settle, Clitheroe and Preston (Walton le Dale), before emptying into the Irish Sea near Lytham, a length of 75 miles.
The main tributaries of the River Ribble are the Hodder and Calder which join the river near Great Mitton, the River Darwen which joins at Walton le Dale and the River Douglas which joins near Hesketh Bank.
Church Deeps is a stretch of the River Ribble located in Walton-le-Dale, notable for being at the bottom of the slope from St. Leonard’s Church. Historically, it was a place where locals swam and played. The term “Church Deeps” refers to the deep part of the river that is near the church.
The Ribble Way is a long-distance footpath which follows the river for much of its course. The Ribble marked the ancient northern boundary of Mercia; and at the time of the Domesday Book was the northern boundary of Cheshire.
The River Ribble is connected to both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (via the River Douglas and the Rufford Branch) and the Lancaster Canal (via the Ribble Link).
The River Ribble catchment was covered by the Mersey Basin Campaign, a partnership which was established in 1985 to improve water quality and encourage waterside regeneration. The Mersey Basin Campaign was a 25-year, government-backed movement, to clean up the entire Mersey river system. Its sister organisation, the Mersey Rivers Trust, continues following the completion of the Mersey Basin Campaign in 2010. The River Ribble’s estuary forms part of the Ribble and Alt Estuaries Special Protection Area for wildlife.
In 2006, Preston City Council published controversial plans to build a barrage across the River Ribble, in their ‘Riverworks’ proposals. The aim of these proposals was to build a water sports park on a section of the Ribble, coupled with over 4000 units of high quality housing and businesses in the river’s flood plain. Local residents opposed the plans, arguing that they endanger wildlife, increase flood risk to local housing and damage greenbelt areas. The residents set up the ‘Save The Ribble’ campaign.
Parts of the river are a County Biological Heritage Site, and a weir, known as Samlesbury Weir, was removed in 2020 to improve river health.
The River Ribble would appear to have been known in Roman times as the Belisama, possibly giving its name to Samlesbury. Ptolemy’s “Belisama aest.” seems to represent the estuary of the River Ribble.
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Ribble Rivers Trust is a Lancashire based charity working to improve the River Ribble and all its tributaries for both people and wildlife. The team are based in Clitheroe, a historic ancient market town at the heart of the Ribble Valley. For over 25 years they have been working with the people who live in this area as well as dozens of partner organisations to deliver river improvements across the entire Ribble catchment.
In the past, industrial and agricultural pollution as well as water abstraction for drinking water and poor sewage treatment have caused severe habitat damage to the Ribble catchment. The extent of this means that the wildlife our rivers support are under threat. The Trust was established to improve the water environments of the catchment. Their goal is to restore and protect the river to make sure current and future generations can enjoy the beauty of its wildlife and fauna.
The Trust was formed by a group of six volunteers in 1997. Every one of them was motivated by a passion for wildlife, angling, and the outdoor life. Together, they realised that rivers were at the core of every ecosystem, so they decided to take the lead with river restoration and conservation projects.
Ribble Rivers Trust website: https://ribbletrust.org.uk
The River Ribble and its catchment
What is a catchment?
A river catchment, also known as a drainage basin, is an area of land from which all water flows into a single river system. It is essentially the geographical area that surrounds a river and all its tributaries, including the land, hills, mountains, and other features that drain into it.
The Ribble river catchment covers an area of over 750 square miles and contains more than 3479 miles (5,600 kilometers) of watercourses. As well as the Ribble the Ribble Rivers Trust look after the Calder, Hodder, Darwen, and Douglas sub-catchment. This means that they not only look after all these rivers, but all the rivers, streams, and becks that flow into them, as well as all the land that surrounds these rivers and streams. You can explore their website to discover more about the Ribble Rivers Trust catchment area.
Across this area is a really diverse and varied types of habitats, from farmland, to woodland, to cities and industrial areas. This variety in habitat supports a large variety of fish, mammals and invertebrates that call this area their home.
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River Ribble level at Walton-Le-Dale
The River Ribble level at Walton-Le-Dale can be check via this government website page: