Image ID: 24412

River Trent at Burton Joyce

Courtesy of Mr G A Young

River Trent
Burton_Joyce
Burton Joyce
England

The River Trent is 280 km long, rising on Biddulph Moor in North Staffordshire and running east and northwards to the Humber. At 280 km it is the third longest river in England. The Trent Valley is an area of major national and regional importance. The River Trent lies in a key geographical position between the highland and lowland zones, and the north and south, of England. It is the largest navigable river through the whole of Nottinghamshire, but has the inconvenience of being subject to great and frequent floods. It is also one of the leading areas of gravel production in England. The River Trent is an ancient navigation. Barges used to trade upstream as far as Burton-on-Trent. When James Brindley connected the Trent & Mersey Canal to the river and built a transhipment port at Shardlow, the upper section above here gradually became disused. But it was a very different river to the one today. It was unimproved without locks and weirs, shallow and fast flowing. Trade was subject to hold ups from flooding or drought. Locks were first built following an act of parliament in 1794 and navigation improvements continued on and off over the next 150 years. It was not until 1952 that the last of the present day locks was completed at Newark.

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Burton Joyce Library