River Aire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| River Aire | |
| River | |
 The River Aire at Gargrave, North Yorkshire
|
|
| Country |  England |
|---|---|
| Counties | North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | River Worth, River Calder |
| City | Leeds |
| Source | |
| - location | Malham Tarn, North Yorkshire |
| - elevation | 377 m (1,237 ft) |
| Mouth | River Ouse |
| - location | Airmyn, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| - elevation | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Length | 114 km (71 mi) |
| Basin | 1,004 km² (388 sq mi) |
| Discharge | for River Ouse |
| - average | 35.72 m³/s (1,261 cu ft/s) |
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length 114km (71m). Part of the river is canalised and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The Aire is one of England's major rivers and flows through one of the largest populated areas in the UK, which is West Yorkshire.
It rises at Malham Tarn flowing underground to Malham Cove (Aire Head), near Malham, in North Yorkshire and flows through Gargrave and Skipton. After Cononley, the river enters West Yorkshire where it passes through the former industrial areas of Keighley, Bingley, Saltaire, Shipley, it then passes through Leeds, on to the villages of Swillington and Woodlesford. At Castleford is the confluence of the Aire and Calder; just downstream of the confluence was the ford where the ancient British road, utilized and strengthened by the Romans, crossed on its journey north to York. The river re-enters North Yorkshire near Knottingley and in its lower reaches forms part of the boundary between North Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
The River Aire empties into the River Ouse at Airmyn, 'myn' being an old English word for 'river mouth'. The name possibly derived from Brythonic *Isara, meaning "strong river". The Aire could have been the winwœd or winwæd written about in Old English, from the Old English elements winnan or win ("strife", "fight") and wæd ("shallow water", "ford"), however others have proposed that it is actually the Went (also called the "wynt" in Old English) or the Cock Beck (see Battle of the Winwaed) whereas others have claimed that it is actually the name of the battle and not the body of water itself. [1] [2].
Contents |
[edit] Settlements
from source
- Malham
- Hanlith
- Airton
- Bell Busk
- Gargrave
- Skipton
- Low Bradley
- Kildwick
- Silsden
- Steeton
- Utley
- Riddlesden
- Crossflatts
- Bingley
- Saltaire
- Shipley
- Charlestown
- Apperley Bridge
- Horsforth
- Kirkstall
- Holbeck
- Leeds City Centre
- Knowsthorpe
- Allerton Bywater
- Castleford
- Brotherton
- Ferrybridge
- Knottingley
- Beal
- West Haddlesey
- Chapel Haddlesey
- Temple Hirst
- Gowdall
- Snaith
- Rawcliffe
- Newland
- Airmyn
(Joins River Ouse)
 South of Malham |
 The 2008 bridge over the River Aire at Castleford |
||
 Pollard Bridge, Newlay near Leeds |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ A Brief History of the Fairburn Area
- ^ Archaeologia Aeliana, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity By Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne Published by Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1857 Item notes: ns.1 Original from Oxford University Digitized Jan 24, 2007
[edit] External links
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