The
River Dee is a long
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
in the United Kingdom. It travels through
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
and
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and also forms part of the border between them.
The river rises in
SnowdoniaSnowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
, Wales, flows north via
ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, England, and discharges to the sea into an estuary between Wales and the
Wirral PeninsulaWirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded to the west by the River Dee, which forms the boundary with Wales, and to the east by the River Mersey. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the merits of each form are the subject of local...
(England).
Statistics
The total
catchment areaA drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean...
of the River Dee up to
Chester WeirChester Weir is a weir which crosses the River Dee at Chester, Cheshire, England, slightly upstream from the Old Dee Bridge . The weir and the associated salmon leap are recognised as a Grade I listed building....
is .
The average rainfall over the catchment is estimated to be yielding an average flow of 37 m³/s.
The larger reservoirs in the
catchmentA drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean...
are:
- Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid)
Bala Lake is a large lake in Gwynedd, Wales. It was the largest natural body of water in Wales prior to the level being raised by Thomas Telford to help support the flow of the Ellesmere Canal. It is long by wide and is subject to sudden and dangerous floods. The River Dee runs through it and...
-
- Llyn Brenig
Llyn Brenig is a reservoir located in North Wales, in the heart of the Denbigh Moors, on the border between the counties of Conwy and Denbighshire...
-
- Llyn Celyn
__notoc__Llyn Celyn is a large reservoir constructed between 1960 and 1965 in the valley of the River Tryweryn in North Wales. It measures roughly 2½ miles long by a mile wide, and has a maximum depth of...
-
Natural course
The River Dee has its source on the slopes of
DdualltDduallt is a mountain in central Snowdonia, North Wales. It is the sister peak of Rhobell Fawr.It lies north of the A494 between Dolgellau and Llanuwchllyn. Its eastern slopes are the source of the River Dee.-External links:...
above
LlanuwchllynLlanuwchllyn is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake . Its population according to the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 834., of which approximately 81% were Welsh-speaking....
in the mountains of
SnowdoniaSnowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
in
MerionethMerionethshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974...
,
GwyneddGwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although one of the biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
,
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
, and then passes through
Bala LakeBala Lake is a large lake in Gwynedd, Wales. It was the largest natural body of water in Wales prior to the level being raised by Thomas Telford to help support the flow of the Ellesmere Canal. It is long by wide and is subject to sudden and dangerous floods. The River Dee runs through it and...
. The path of the river trends generally east-south-east as it descends off the
OrdovicianThe Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian period and is followed by the Silurian period...
Denbigh MoorsMynydd Hiraethog is an upland region in Conwy and Denbighshire in north-east Wales. It includes the large reservoir Llyn Brenig and the Clocaenog Forest, which has one of Wales's last populations of red squirrels. Its highest point is Mwdwl-eithin, at above sea level, making it higher than Exmoor...
, over the man-made
Horseshoe FallsThe Horseshoe Falls is an artificially created waterfall on the River Dee near Llantysilio Hall in Denbighshire, Wales, approximately west of the town of Llangollen....
and through
LlangollenLlangollen is a small town in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains.- History :...
, generally skirting the outcropping
KarsticKarst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite....
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
exposures north of Llangollen. East of Llangollen,
Thomas Telford'sThomas Telford was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...
Pontcysyllte AqueductThe Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee, between the villages of Trevor and Froncysyllte, in Wrexham in north east Wales...
, of 1805, carries the
Shropshire Union CanalThe Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the SU system and lie partially in Wales....
overhead.
One of the major tributaries of the Dee, the
River AlynThe River Alyn is a tributary of the River Dee. The river Alyn rises at the southern end of the Clwydian hills and the Alyn Valley forms part of the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
(
) crosses the
carboniferousThe Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Ma ....
limestone from Halkyn Mountain and down through the Loggerheads area before making its confluence north of
HoltHolt is a medieval market town in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales. It is situated on the border with England.-Area:The district has been occupied since at least the Roman period. A brickworks supplied clay tiles and pottery to the Roman fort of Deva Victrix, eight miles away . The works was...
. Throughout the length of the Alyn there are numerous swallow holes and caverns and during the summer months long stretches of the river bed run dry. These caves include
Ogof Hesp AlynOgof Hesp Alyn was discovered by in 1973 in the Alyn Gorge near Cilcain, Flintshire, North Wales. With more recent discoveries, the length of cave passage totals extending over a vertical range of about . The entrance would have functioned as a rising prior to the lowering of local water levels...
and Ogof Hen Ffynhonnau. A significant part of this lost flow re-emerges in the
Milwr tunnelThe Milwr Tunnel is a mine drainage running from Loggerheads near Mold to Bagillt on the Dee Estuary in North Wales. Its purpose was to drain the lead mines in this vicinity....
, a man-made tunnel, entering the west bank of the Dee estuary and carrying 12 million imperial gallons per day (600 L/s). This tunnel was originally constructed to drain metal mines in Halkyn Mountain. Once the main River Dee approaches the
CheshireCheshire ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. The traditional county town is the city of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Widnes, Runcorn, Macclesfield,...
border and the carboniferous
coal measureThe Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term used mainly in the British Isles for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
s, it turns sharply northwards before meandering up to
ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
. This long stretch of the river drops in height by only a few feet and can be regarded as a highly linear lake. The rich adjoining farmland has many remnants of abandoned coal workings and deep clay-pits used to make
bricksBricks may refer to:* Brick, an artificial stone made by forming clay into rectangular blocks* Brick , a slang term for a device that cannot function due to internal failure...
and tiles. A number of these pits are now being used as
landfillA landfill, also known as a dump , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
sites for domestic and commercial waste.
At
HoltHolt is a medieval market town in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales. It is situated on the border with England.-Area:The district has been occupied since at least the Roman period. A brickworks supplied clay tiles and pottery to the Roman fort of Deva Victrix, eight miles away . The works was...
and
Farndon, CheshireFarndon is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Dee, south of Chester, and close to the border with Wales...
, the river crosses into England under a medieval bridge and then passes under the
A55 roadThe A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway, is a major road in Britain. Its entire length is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception of the point where it crosses the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. All junctions are grade separated except for two roundabouts — one...
and continues northwards to Chester. At Chester the river passes and around the Earl's Eye(s) meadow. In the Chester region the river side is used as a recreation area with a bandstand, benches and boat cruises, being crossed by two bridges. The first is the Queen's Park Suspension Bridge, which forms the only exclusively pedestrian footway across the river in Chester. The second is the
Old Dee BridgeThe Old Dee Bridge, in Chester, Cheshire, England, is the oldest bridge in the city. It crosses the River Dee carrying the road which leads from the bottom of Lower Bridge Street and the Bridgegate to Handbridge. A bridge on this site was originally built by the Romans and the present bridge is...
, a road bridge and by far the oldest bridge in Chester, being built in about 1387 on the site of a series of wooden predecessors which dated originally from the Roman period.
Above the Old Dee Bridge is
Chester WeirChester Weir is a weir which crosses the River Dee at Chester, Cheshire, England, slightly upstream from the Old Dee Bridge . The weir and the associated salmon leap are recognised as a Grade I listed building....
, which was built by Hugh Lupus to supply power to his corn mills. Throughout the centuries the weir has been used to power corn, fulling, needle, snuff and flint mills. The same weir was used as part of a
hydro-electricHydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
scheme in 1911 with the help of a small generator building which is still visible today, used as a pumping station for water since 1951. However the first water pumping station here was set up in 1600 by John Tyrer who pumped water to a square tower built on the city's Bridgegate. It was destroyed in the Civil War but an octagonal tower built in 1690 for the same purpose lasted until the gate was replaced with an arch in the mid-18th century.
On this weir is a fish pass and fish counting station to monitor the numbers of
salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout; the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, a distinction that holds true for the Salmo...
ascending the river, and also a weirgate for navigating the weir at spring tides. A little further downstream stands the
Grosvenor BridgeThe Grosvenor Bridge is a single-span arch road bridge constructed from stone. It crosses the River Dee at Chester in England. The bridge is located on the A483 Grosvenor Road . Views upriver from the bridge include Chester castle and Handbridge. The view downstream from the bridge encompasses the...
(designed by architect
Thomas HarrisonThomas Harrison was an English architect and engineer. He built a number of bridges, including Grosvenor Bridge in Chester. He also rebuilt parts of Chester and Lancaster castles...
of Chester), which was opened in 1833 to ease congestion on the Old Dee Bridge. This bridge was opened by Princess Victoria five years before she became Queen.
The other side of the Grosvenor Bridge is the Roodee, Chester's race course and the oldest course in the country. This used to be the site of Chester's Roman harbour until, aided by the building of the weir, the River Dee silted up to become the size it is today. The only curiously remaining reminder of this site's maritime past is a stone cross which stands in the middle of the Roodee which exhibits the marks of water ripples. To the end of the Roodee the river is crossed again by a second bridge, now carrying the Chester–Holyhead railway line, before leaving Chester. It was the scene of one of the first serious railway accidents in the country, the Dee bridge disaster.
Canalised section
North of Chester, the river flows along an artificial channel excavated between 1732-36. The work was planned and undertaken by engineers from the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
and paid for by local merchants and Chester Corporation. It was an attempt to improve navigation for shipping and reduce silting. Chester's trade had declined steadily since the end of the 17th century as sediment had prevented larger craft reaching the city.
After four year's work, the river was diverted from its meandering natural course which passed
BlaconBlacon is a large suburb near Chester, in Cheshire, England, containing a mixture of private homes and substantial public council-built properties...
,
SaughallSaughall is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated approximately north west of Chester and close to the Welsh border....
,
Shotwick CastleShotwick Castle was a medieval fortification near the village of Saughall, Cheshire, England. It is a scheduled monument.-History:Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester had Shotwick Castle built about 1093. The design encompassed an earthen motte with an outer bailey above the River Dee...
, Burton and
ParkgateParkgate is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in the part that lies in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in the North West of England...
and up the west shore of
WirralWirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded to the west by the River Dee, which forms the boundary with Wales, and to the east by the River Mersey. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the merits of each form are the subject of local...
. Instead the new canalised section followed the coast along North East Wales. During this time, Sealand and
ShottonShotton is a town in Flintshire, north Wales, lying on the River Dee. It is continuous with the towns of Connah's Quay and Queensferry in what is called Deeside. At the 2001 Census Shotton had a population of 6,265.-History:...
were reclaimed from the
estuaryAn estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are thus subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of...
. Land reclamation in this area continued until 1916. The river's natural course can still be determined by following the bank and low bluffs that mark the western edge of the Wirral Peninsula.
The
man-made channel, which runs in a straight line for five miles (8 km), passes beneath three road bridges. The first two are adjacent to each other at
QueensferryQueensferry is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the River Dee near the border with England.Queensferry lies along the B5441 and B5129 roads, and is bypassed by the A494 dual carriageway. It is contiguous with Deeside...
. They are
a 1960s fixed-arch bridge carrying the
North Wales–England trunk roadThe A494 is an important trunk road in Wales. The road runs between "Drome Corner" at the intersection of the A548 and A550 by RAF Sealand, Queensferry and the A470 at Dolgellau, Gwynedd.-History:...
and its predecessor the
New Jubilee Bridge, which is a rolling
Bascule bridgeA bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. Bascule is a French term for seesaw and balance, and bascule bridges operate along the same principle...
completed in 1926. The third crossing, and the most recent, is at
Connah's Quay|latitude= 53.2179|longitude= -3.0573|official_name= Connah's Quay|population= 16,526|constituency_westminster= Alyn and Deeside|post_town= Deeside|postcode_district= CH5...
. The
Flintshire BridgeThe Flintshire Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Dee Estuary. The bridge links Flint and Connah's Quay to the north shore of the River Dee. The bridge cost £55million to construct...
is a fixed
cable-stayed bridgeA cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....
. It opened in 1999.
Between the second and third road bridges is
Hawarden railway bridgeHawarden Bridge is a railway bridge over the River Dee, near to Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway , as part of the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway. It opened in 3 August 1889.The , which was designed as a swing bridge to allow shipping...
, originally constructed as a
swing bridgeA swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring at or near to its center, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration below...
but now never opened. It carries the
BirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
–
WrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located to the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
Borderlands LineThe Borderlands Line is the railway line between Wrexham, Wales, and Bidston, Wirral, England.The southern part of the line was built by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway and the northern part by the North Wales and Liverpool Railway, a joint committee of the WMCQR and the Manchester,...
line over the river.
A footbridge replaced the passenger ferry at
SaltneySaltney is a small town in Flintshire, North Wales. It is immediately to the west of the border with Cheshire in England and forms part of the Chester urban area.The name is derived from the former salt marshes on which it is built, lying on the River Dee...
in the 1970s.
The river then opens out into the
Dee EstuaryThe Dee Estuary is a large estuary from which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five miles 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles wide forming the boundary between the Wirral Peninsula in north-west England and Flintshire...
, forming the north eastern tip of the
North WalesNorth Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales and to the east by England.It comprises the island of Anglesey, the Llŷn peninsula and the Snowdonia mountain range, together with the catchments of the Rivers Conwy, Clwyd and Dee with the River Dyfi...
coast and the western coast of the
WirralWirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded to the west by the River Dee, which forms the boundary with Wales, and to the east by the River Mersey. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the merits of each form are the subject of local...
. Towns along the coast include
FlintFlint is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee. It was the county town of the historic county of Flintshire and today is the third largest town in Flintshire. According to the 2001 Census the population of the community of Flint was 12,804.-Geography:Flint is...
,
HolywellHolywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...
and
MostynMostyn is a small village in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee, and located near the town of Holywell.Mostyn once served as a port from which ferries used to sail to Dublin on the Liverpool-Dublin route...
on the Welsh side and
NestonNeston is a small residential town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. It is situated on the part of the Wirral Peninsula that remains in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Parkgate is located to the north west and the villages of Little Neston and Ness...
,
ParkgateParkgate is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in the part that lies in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in the North West of England...
,
West KirbyWest Kirby is a town on the north-west corner of the coast of the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee across from the Point of Ayr in North Wales. To the north-east of the town lies Hoylake, with the suburbs of Grange and Newton to the east, and the village of Caldy...
and
HoylakeHoylake is a seaside town on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It is located at the north western corner of the peninsula, near to the town of West Kirby and where the River Dee estuary meets the Irish Sea...
on the Wirral side.
Uses
Industry
Large parts of the catchment are devoted to agriculture and there a number of abstractions made from the river for summer irrigation. The volumes involved are not however significant.
From Chirk downstream, the river valley has supported a wide range of industries that were initially drawn to the area by the presence of coal mines and later by the deep deposits of
carboniferousThe Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Ma ....
clayClay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired...
s used to make
brickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar.-History:The oldest shaped bricks found date back to 7,500 B.C. They have been found in Çayönü, in the upper Tigris region, and in south east Anatolia close to Diyarbakir. Other more recent findings,...
s and
tileA tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, and walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...
s.
The coal industry in particular gave rise to a number of chemical industries some of which survive to this day and which both take water from the river and discharge their cleaned up effluent back into the river. Industries in the valley include commercial chemicals manufacturer, wood chip and
MDFMedium-density fiberboard is an engineered wood product formed by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure.It is made up of separated fibers, but can...
fabrication,
cocoaCocoa is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree, from which chocolate is made. "Cocoa" can often also refer to the drink commonly known as hot chocolate; to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa...
milling, fibreglass manufacture,
waste disposalA landfill, also known as a dump , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
(in old
clay pitA clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement.The brick factory is often located alongside the clay pit to reduce the transport costs of the raw material. These days pottery producers are often not sited near...
s) and a great variety of smaller industries concentrated around
WrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located to the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
. The main impact on the river of these industries is their thirst for a dependable good quality water supply.
Currently the wings for the
Airbus A380The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse, France, and made its first commercial flight on 25...
, which are made at Airbus' manufacturing factory in
BroughtonBroughton is a small district in Flintshire, Wales, close to the Wales–England border and located to the west of the City of Chester, England. Along with the nearby village of Bretton, the total population was 5,791 at the 2001 Census....
, are taken downriver by barge to the
Port of MostynMostyn is a small village in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee, and located near the town of Holywell.Mostyn once served as a port from which ferries used to sail to Dublin on the Liverpool-Dublin route...
because they are too large to be shipped in an
Airbus BelugaThe Airbus A300-600ST or Beluga is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and over-sized or awkward cargo...
. However, the dredging of the river for the barge may be responsible for a weakening of the
tidal boreA tidal bore is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travel up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the current...
.
Abstractions
There are a number of direct water abstractions upstream of Chester by three water companies and by the canal. The size of the abstraction is very large compared to the summer flow and the flow in the river is very highly regulated through the use of reservoirs to store water in the winter and release it in the summer. The whole system is managed as the
River Dee regulation systemThe River Dee regulation system is a system of flow balancing and quality management along the River Dee managed by a consortium of the three largest water companies who take water from the river together with the regulator, the Environment Agency Wales....
.
Below Chester water is also abstracted as cooling water by the gas-fired power station at
Connah's Quay|latitude= 53.2179|longitude= -3.0573|official_name= Connah's Quay|population= 16,526|constituency_westminster= Alyn and Deeside|post_town= Deeside|postcode_district= CH5...
. Process and cooling water is also abstracted for the
paper millA paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from wood pulp and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier Machine or similar apparatus.A website that collects and distributes essay papers on the internet, either free or for a fee is known as "web paper mills"...
and power station at
ShottonShotton is a placename with several meanings:* Shotton, Peterlee, a village in County Durham, in north-east England* Shotton, Sedgefield, a village in County Durham, in England* Shotton, Northumberland, England...
.
Water sports
The Dee used to be a popular
whitewater kayakingWhitewater kayaking is the sport of paddling a kayak on a moving body of water, typically a whitewater river. Whitewater kayaking can range from simple, carefree gently moving water, to demanding, dangerous whitewater. River rapids are graded like ski runs according to the difficulty, danger or...
and touring river (particular the grade III/IV whitewater section upstream of Llangollen). It stays high after rain for longer than most British rivers and is paddleable year-round (thanks to the River Dee Regulation System). Canoeing used to be allowed on about twelve weekends per year, and tens of thousands of canoeists descended on Llangollen for recreational paddling (several Dee tours were held every winter),
slalomTo slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It can refer to:Sports:*Slalom skiing*Whitewater slalom/kayaking*Freestyle slalom skating*Slalom skateboarding*Slalom water skiing*Slalom ice skating*Slalom windsurfing*Snowboard parallel giant slalom skiing...
competitions, and
wild water racesWhitewater racing is a competitive discipline of canoeing in which kayaks or canadian canoes are used to negotiate a stretch of river speedily. It is also called "wildwater" or "downriver" racing to distinguish it from whitewater slalom racing and whitewater rodeo or freestyle...
.
Public access to the river is arranged by the Welsh Canoe Association. In 2003, negotiations with the
anglingAngling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" .The hook is usually attached by a line to a fishing rod. A bite indicator such as a float is sometimes used. The rod is usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook...
associations owning fishing rights on the Dee broke down. The anglers wanted to restrict the numbers of paddlers on the river when paddling was allowed but the Welsh Canoe Association wanted to renew the previous agreement. As a result, all canoeing on the river was banned. In November 2004, a protest about the lack of access on the Dee, and to rivers across England and Wales, was held in Llangollen. More protests are likely in the future. Following the failure of the access agreement, many canoeists use the river at will from the numerous access points along its banks.
Canoeing is permitted on one 100 m long rapid 1 km upstream of Llangollen, and on some flat sections far downstream in England.
Each July the
Chester Raft RaceThe Chester Raft Race in an annual event taking place every July on the River Dee in Chester...
is held on the River Dee in aid of charity.
Fishing
The river has been famed as a mixed fishery with salmon and
troutThe brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
fishing, mostly in the upper waters and a good coarse fishery in the lower reaches. A major pollution in the middle reaches in the late 1990s did extensive damage to the fishery from which it is now largely recovered.
See also
- Dee Estuary
The Dee Estuary is a large estuary from which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five miles 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles wide forming the boundary between the Wirral Peninsula in north-west England and Flintshire...
- Rivers of the United Kingdom
- Dee bridge - The Dee bridge disaster
The Dee bridge disaster was an English rail accident that occurred on 24 May 1847 with five fatalities.A new bridge across the River Dee in Chester was needed for the Chester and Holyhead Railway, a project planned in the 1840s for the expanding British railway system. It was built using cast iron...
- Dee 106.3
Dee 106.3 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Chester. It has its studios at 2 Chantry Court in Chester. The transmitter is on top of the Steam Mill building in Chester city centre, next to the Shropshire Union Canal and reaches much of Flintshire.It was the first...
- radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
station based in Chester
- Miller of Dee
Miller of Dee is a traditional folk song from the Chester area in the north-west of England. It is often titled "The Miller of the Dee".The song was originally part of Isaac Bickerstaffe's play, "Love in a village"...
- traditional folk song
Further reading
- G.W. Place, The Rise and Fall of Parkgate, Passenger Port for Ireland (1994).
- Gordon Emery, Curious Chester (1999) ISBN 1-872265-94-4
- Gordon Emery, Chester Inside Out (1998) ISBN 1-872265-92-8
- Gordon Emery, The Chester Guide(2003) ISBN 1-872265-89-8
- ed Gordon Emery, The Old Chester Canal ISBN 1-872265-88-X
- Gordon Emery, Chester Electric Lighting Station (2002) ISBN 1-872265-48-0
- Roy Wilding, Miller of Dee (1997) ISBN 1-872265-95-2
- Roy Wilding Death in Chester (2003) ISBN 1-872265-44-8
- PR Lewis, Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847, Tempus Publishing (2007) ISBN 978 0 7524 4266 2
External links