River Glaven

River Glaven
River Glaven
	River Glaven at Glandford
	Location within Norfolk
Location
Country	England
State	Norfolk
Region	East of England
District	North Norfolk
Physical characteristics
Source	Lower Bodham
• location	Bodham, North Norfolk, England
• coordinates	52°54′57″N 1°9′45″E / 52.91583°N 1.16250°E
Mouth
• location	North Sea at Blakeney Point, England
• coordinates	52°58′12″N 01°00′27″E / 52.97000°N 1.00750°E
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	17 km (11 mi)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Stody Beck, Thornage Beck

The River Glaven in the eastern English county of

chalk rivers in the world and one of 160 in the UK.^[1]

Geography

The

tributaries: Stody Beck joins just above Hunworth Mill (Map Ref TG 066 356), and the Thornage Beck joins close to the unbridged ford on the Thornage to Hunworth

road (Map Ref TG 062 363).

Glandford

There are three "on-stream" lakes associated with the main channel, these being Hawksmere (Hempstead mill pond), Edgefield Hall Lake and Bayfield Hall Lake. The long, thin lake at Bayfield Hall in many ways epitomises the beauty of the lower Glaven valley. It was dug in the late eighteenth century for ornamental purposes. In the late 19th century an "extravaganza" tunnel was built into the valley side so that the Glaven could be partly diverted around the lake.

This tunnel stopped operating in 2010 when the Bayfield hall project set out to create a new 1.2-mile long river channel to save the wildlife including many species of fish, especially Trout. The project was completed in 2014. It was very successful and this is the longest manmade river stretch in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

Watermills

At the time of the Domesday Book the River Glaven had 19 watermills. Today the Glaven has six: in order of river descent they are Hempstead, Hunworth, Thornage, Letheringsett, Letheringsett Brewery mill and Glandford. Letheringsett mill is still in use and is the only working watermill in Norfolk, grinding corn to make flour which is on sale at the mill shop.

Wildlife

Water

voles are present in the Glaven, in good numbers. Otters are difficult to see, but they make good use of the river. This could be one reason why mink are absent as otters are thought not to tolerate them. Both red deer and roe deer

are seen.

The bird population reflects the range of habitats available, and the total number of species present is around 126, of which 68 have bred (these figures do not include birds of the coastal wetlands north of the coast road (

Barn owls

frequently hunt during daylight hours. As winter approaches flocks of pink-footed geese and brent geese fly from the coast to feeding grounds on the farms inland.

Fish

Fish in the river include

pike, gudgeon, carp and tench

.

Insects and dragonflies

Some insects and

emperor dragonfly, four-spotted chaser, broad-bodied chaser, black-tailed skimmer, keeled skimmer, common darter

, ruddy darter, common hawker, Norfolk hawker, hairy dragonfly, red-veined darter, yellow-winged darter, black darter and the variable damselfly.

Small mammals

Small mammals seen in or near the river include

pipistrelle bat, Natterer's bat, Daubenton's bat, rabbits, brown hares, grey squirrel, bank vole, short-tailed field vole, water vole, wood mouse, house mouse and the brown rat

.