River Douglas, Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°44′4.92″N 2°51′18.26″W / 53.7347000°N 2.8550722°W / 53.7347000; -2.8550722
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Douglas
Winter Hill
Mouthconfluence with River Ribble
 • coordinates
53°44′4.92″N 2°51′18.26″W / 53.7347000°N 2.8550722°W / 53.7347000; -2.8550722
Length56 km (35 mi)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • rightRiver Yarrow

The River Douglas, also known as the River Asland or Astland,[1] flows through parts of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. It is a tributary of the River Ribble and has several tributaries, the major ones being the River Tawd and the River Yarrow.

In 1720 an

act of Parliament was passed allowing Thomas Steers and William Squire to make the Douglas navigable to small ships between Wigan and its mouth. Amid financial irregularities, the Douglas Navigation was not completed until 1742, and by 1783, it had been superseded by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.[2]
It reverted to being a river, although the remains of several locks can still be seen between Parbold and Gathurst.[3] The Rufford Branch of the canal joins the river at Tarleton. The river rises on
Winter Hill on the West Pennine Moors, and flows for 35 miles (56 km) through several towns and onto the Ribble estuary past Tarleton, the last 10 miles (16 km) or so being tidal. In 1892 the Douglas was diverted in Wigan to allow the construction of Wigan Central railway station
.

Etymology

The Douglas is derived from the Brittonic elements dūβ-, meaning "black",[4] and *glẹ:ss, "stream, rivulet, watercourse" (Welsh du-glais).[4] This etymology is shared by like-named rivers in The Old North,[4] such as the Douglas Water in Scotland.[4]

Route

The River Douglas rises at Douglas Springs, a series of springs on Rivington Moor close to the 1,440-foot (440 m) contour near to the summit of Winter Hill. The River Yarrow, one of its major tributaries, rises at springs less than a mile (1.6 km) to the north-west. Nearby are Anglezarke Reservoir, Upper Rivington Reservoir, and Lower Rivington Reservoir, three reservoirs that form part of the Rivington Chain, a network of reservoirs built to meet the drinking water needs of Liverpool. They disrupt the natural drainage patterns of both rivers.[5][6]

The Douglas descends rapidly, dropping below the 430-foot (130 m) contour before it empties into the Lower Rivington Reservoir, just to the north of

grade II listed aqueduct designed by John Rennie in the 1790s. The aqueduct has a round arch and is constructed of rock-faced stone.[7] Next, it by passes Worthington Lakes, three reservoirs built in the 1860s to provide drinking water for Wigan, and now managed as a country park by United Utilities.[8] The river ceases to form the county boundary just before the lakes, and re-emerges from a tunnel below the reservoir dam, passing to the east of Standish. It continues southwards to Wigan, where it passes through a long culvert under the railway near Wigan North Western station, is crossed again by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and heads north-west, closely paralleled by the canal.[6]

The River Douglas passing under Bank Bridge at Tarleton.

It is crossed by the

A581 road. Below it, the river is joined by the River Yarrow, which has taken a more direct route from its source to this point.[6] At Tarleton, another three-span bridge carries the A59 road over the river. It is built from rock-faced sandstone blocks, and the keystone on the southern side indicates it was constructed in 1821. The north side is of red sandstone, with indications that it might once have been part of a narrower bridge.[12] After its junction with the canal at Tarleton Lock, the final 4 miles (6.4 km) of the river to its junction with the River Ribble, here also known as the River Asland, is used by boat traffic transferring from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to the Lancaster Canal since the opening of the Ribble Link in 2002.[13]

Hydrology

The reservoirs of the Rivington Chain capture and store run-off from Winter Hill and Rivington Moor, much of which is used to provide a public water supply to areas of Lancashire and Greater Manchester. However, as a result of the original statutes that allowed them to be built, the water company is required to maintain some flow in the river below the reservoirs, and this compensation flow provides a fairly steady baseline flow in the river throughout the year. It is only normally exceeded if the reservoirs become full.[14] On the upper reaches of the Douglas, the river bed is relatively steep, and consequently the river level can change quickly as a result of rainfall. As the river progresses to the west, the gradient lessens, and level changes occur more slowly.[5]

There are two locations on the river where water is abstracted to maintain levels in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. On many sections of the river, flows are augmented by the discharge from sewage treatment works.[14] Major treatment works are located at Horwich on the upper river, at Wigan Wastewater Treatment works in Lathom on the lower section, and at Skelmersdale on the River Tawd.[15] Upgrades to the Wigan and Skelmersdale Treatment Works have been carried out, to improve the quality of the final effluent before discharge into the river system, while in Wigan, the sewage system has been improved, to reduce the amount of raw sewage discharged into the river by combined sewer overflows. In Standish, the pumping station at Chorley Road has been upgraded to reduce its impact on the river, while in Horwich, there was an ongoing scheme in 2014 in which volunteers walked the river to identify pollution points, which were then followed up by officers from the Environment Agency. Run-off of nutrients and other pollutants from agricultural land has also been addressed through the Catchment Sensitive Farming project, run jointly by Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[15] Another joint initiative between the Environment Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has seen sea defences improved and 370 acres (150 ha) of saltmarsh created as part of the Hesketh Outmarsh Coastal Realignment project.[16]

Tributaries

River Douglas from the gardens at Bank Hall.
  • Longton Brook
  • Centre Drain
  • Carr Heys Watercourse
  • Tarra Carr Gutter
    • Hall Pool
  • Dunkirk Dib
  • Rakes Brook
  • Carr Brook
  • Strine Brook
  • River Yarrow
    • tributaries of the Yarrow listed under River Yarrow
  • Main Ditch
  • Eller Brook
    • Wham Ditch
    • Black Brook
    • Abbey Brook
      • New Park Brook
      • Castle Brook
      • Sefton Brook
        • Dungeon Brook
        • Dicket's Brook
          • Goose Brook
  • Mill Ditch
    • New Reed Brook
    • Bentley Brook
  • River Tawd
    • Slate Brook
    • Grimshaw Brook
  • Middlehurst Brook
  • Dock Brook
  • Alder Lane Brook
  • Sprodley Brook
  • Calico Brook
  • Lees Brook
  • Dean Brook
    • Sand Brook
  • Ackhurst Brook
  • Mill Brook
  • Bradshaw Brook
  • Close Brook
  • Barley Brook
  • Smithy Brook
    • Poolstock Brook
      • Ince Brook
        • Hawkley Brook
        • Reed Brook
          • Park Brook
  • Clarington Brook
  • Bradley Brook
  • Bucklow Brook
    • Moss Ditch
    • Buckow Brook
      • Hic-bibi Brook
        • Stars Brook
          • Almond Brook
          • Tunley Brook
  • Pearl Brook
  • Arley Brook

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of

angiosperms and fish, and chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations. Chemical status is rated good or fail.[17]

The water quality of the River Douglas system was as follows in 2016. The section marked Ribble covers the tidal River Ribble and the lower 4 miles (6.4 km) of tidal River Douglas. Reasons for the quality being less than good include sewage discharge for most of the river, together with physical modification of the channel and poor nutrient management of agricultural land on the lower sections.

Section Ecological Status Chemical Status Overall Status Length Catchment Channel
Douglas - Upper[18] Moderate Good Moderate 8.8 miles (14.2 km) 17.78 square miles (46.0 km2) heavily modified
Buckhow (Hic Bibbi) Brook[19] Moderate Good Moderate 5.9 miles (9.5 km) 3.64 square miles (9.4 km2) heavily modified
Douglas - Mid[20] Moderate Good Moderate 5.8 miles (9.3 km) 6.65 square miles (17.2 km2) heavily modified
Douglas - Lower[21] Moderate Good Moderate 15.3 miles (24.6 km) 28.85 square miles (74.7 km2) heavily modified
Ribble[22] Bad Good Bad heavily modified

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Bland, E (1903). Annals of Southport and district. A chronological history of North Meols from Alfred the Great to Edward VII. Southport: J J Riley.
  2. .
  3. .
  4. ^ a b c d James, Alan. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence" (PDF). SPNS - The Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b CFMP 2009, p. 4.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "1:25,000 map". Ordnance Survey.
  7. ^ Historic England. "Aqueduct over River Douglas (1356780)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Worthington Lakes". Wigan Council. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Nerburgh Aqueduct (1297537)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  10. ^ Historic England. "White Bridge (1072502)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970, p. 158.
  12. ^ Historic England. "Tarleton Bridge (1073123)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  13. ^ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 252.
  14. ^ a b CAMS 2013, p. 15.
  15. ^ a b DMC 2014, p. 23.
  16. ^ DMC 2014, p. 24.
  17. ^ "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Douglas - Upper". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Buckhow (Hic Bibbi) Brook". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Douglas - Mid". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  21. ^ "Douglas - Lower". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Ribble". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
Next confluence upstream River Ribble Next confluence downstream
Freckleton Pool (north) River Douglas, Lancashire

External links