90 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF NOTTINGHAM AND DISTRICT 



IV. 



NOTTINGHAM'S RIVER-THE TRENT 



i. THE RIVER TRENT CATCHMENT BOARD 



AND ITS WORK 



BY 



WALTER H. HAILE, M.Inst. C.E., 



ENGINEER TO THE RIVER TRENT CATCHMENT BOARD. 



General and Physical Features of the Trent 



The Catchment Area of the River Trent covers a large portion of the 

 ancient kingdom of Mercia and is 2,578,539 acres (4,029 square miles) 

 in extent. It comprises parts of the counties of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln- 

 Kesteven, Lincoln-Lindsey, Nottingham, Rutland, Shropshire, Stafford, 

 Warwick, Worcester and Yorkshire West Riding, and includes important 

 County Boroughs such as Birmingham, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and 

 Stoke-on-Trent. The watershed line is difficult to define without refer- 

 ence to a map, but may roughly be described as having its northern limits 

 at the Humber and in the Peak Districts, its western hmits near the 

 western Staffordshire County Boundary, its southern limits extending from 

 south of Birmingham to south of Leicester, and its eastern limits extending 

 from the hill range which divides the valleys of the Trent and the 

 Ancholme to Rutland. The River Trent rises in the northern environ- 

 ments of Stoke-on-Trent and follows a south-easterly course until it 

 reaches its confluence with the River Tame near Alrewas, when it changes 

 to a north-easterly direction, and then from Newark to its outfall at 

 Trent Falls in the Humber it flows practically due north. All the main 

 tributaries, such as the Tame, Soar, Dove and Derwent, join the parent 

 river above Nottingham, with the exception of the Idle which discharges 

 at West Stockwith below Gainsborough. 



With the exception of the River Derwent which flows through a gorge 

 of millstone grit in its length above Ambergate, all the main rivers flow 

 through alluvial beds composed of gravel until the River Trent reaches 

 the vicinity of Torksey, where there is a fairly definite change to warp 

 which overlies clay in places. For the most part, the geological formation 

 of the land contiguous to the valleys is the Keuper marl, whilst the flat 

 alluvial peat moors in the area of the Doncaster Drainage Districts are 

 notable. 



The River Trent is tidal for a length of 52 miles, from its outfall to 

 a few miles north of Newark at Cromwell Lock. Navigation, assisted 



