The River Darwen runs through Darwen and Blackburn in Lancashire, England, eventually joining the River Ribble at Walton le Dale south of Preston on its way to the Ribble Estuary.

Course

Originating at Jack's Key Clough where Grain Brook and Grainings Brook meet, the two streams from Bull Hill and Cranberry Moss respectively, the river flows through the town of Darwen, continuing into the suburbs of Blackburn past Ewood Park. The river passes below the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Ewood Aqueduct and is culverted again at Waterfall and near Griffin Park. It is joined by the River Blakewater near Witton Country Park in Blackburn and leaves the mostly urban landscapes of the towns behind, flowing through parklands and valleys. A further tributary, the River Roddlesworth, joins the Darwen at the bottom of Moulden Brow on the boundary between Blackburn with Darwen and Chorley Borough Council (the name Moulden Brow being associated with Moulden Water, an alternative name for this stretch of the river). From there, the Darwen flows past Hoghton Tower through Hoghton Bottoms and Samlesbury Bottoms, finally combining with the River Ribble at Walton-le-Dale.

Places of interest

• A small Memorial Garden for Kathleen Ferrier is on the river bank at Higher Walton, Lancashire.

• Parkway and Higher Croft Woods, south of Blackburn, is a Biological Heritage Site (BHS) which also received a Local Nature Reserve status in 2005

• Walton-le-Dale, location of the Battle of Preston during the Second English Civil War, captured a Parliamentarian army victory in a poem "To Cromwell" by John Milton: -

" While Darwent Streams with Blood of Scots imbru'd..."

1. The poem names the river "Darwent," giving us evidence of its derivation from a Brythonic dialect form similar to the Old Welsh derwenyd (Modern Welsh derwenydd), meaning "valley thick with oaks".

History

The river was polluted with human and industrial effluent during the Industrial Revolution, and this contamination continued until the early 1970s. The river often changed colour dramatically as a result of paper and paint mills routinely using the river water to flush out dye and paint tanks. This process has now ceased, and as a result the river water is now relatively clear which has resulted in the return of trout and small fish. In 2012 a section of the river which had remained in a culvert for 100 years was uncovered at an area of Darwen known as Shorey Bank. Throughout the course of the river many improvements have resulted in improved water quality.

Tributaries

Hennel Brook

• Cockshott Brook

Many Brooks

Black Brook

• Hatchwood Brook

Fowler Brook

Drum Head Brook

• Gorton Brook

• Mill Brook

  Bank Head Brook

• Old Darwen

Beeston Brook

• Quaker Brook

Hole Brook

• Huntley Brook (North)

• Huntley Brook (South)

Alum House Brook

• Arley Brook

• Trout Brook

River Roddlesworth

• Finnington Brook

Stockclough Brook

Whitehalgh Brook

• Shaw Brook

• Chapels Brook

• Sheep Bridge Brook

  Rake Brook

• Calf Hey Brook

• Ferny Bed Springs

River Blakewater

• Snig Brook

• Audley Brook

Little Harwood Brook

• Royshaw Clough

• Seven Acre Brook

• Knuzden Brook

Scotshaw Brook

• Moss Brook

• Badger Brook

Higher Croft Brook

• Newfield Brook

Davy Field Brook

• Flash Brook

Grimshaw Brook

Waterside Brook

Mean Brook

• Sapling Clough

Hoddlesden Moss Brook

• Far Scotland Brook

Pickup Bank Brook

• Moss Brook

• Twitchells Brook

Sunnyhurst Brook

• Stepback Brook

Bold Venture Brook

High Lumb Brook

• Livesey Brook

Kebbs Brook

• Green Lowe Brook

Bury Fold Brook

Old Briggs Brook

• Duckshaw Brook

• Grainings Brook

Grain Brook

• Bent Hall Brook

• Deadman's Clough

References

External links

• River Darwen, Cotton Town. Retrieved 19 June 2015.