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Letcombe Brook
Letcombe Brook is a stream in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It rises at the foot of the Berkshire Downs in Letcombe Bassett and flows through Letcombe Regis, Wantage, Grove and East Hanney to join Childrey Brook, which is a tributary of the River Ock, which is a tributary of the River Thames. Letcombe Brook is a chalk stream, which is globally rare. Development, agriculture and water demand have degraded its habitats, but its water is now cleaner than for many years, and it supports a rich diversity of wildlife, including water voles, bullheads and brook lampreys, which are protected species. The Letcombe Brook Charitable Trust was established as a memorial to the poet Sir John Betjeman, who lived in the area for many years. In 1972, the year he was appointed Poet Laureate, he wrote the poem "On Leaving Wantage", which begins "I like the ways these old brick garden walls run unevenly down to Letcombe Brook". The brook runs through the Letcombe Valley a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Letcombe Brook Source
Letcombe Regis is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The village is on Letcombe Brook at the foot of the Berkshire Downs escarpment about southwest of the market town of Wantage. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 578. History The parish includes Segsbury Camp, an Iron Age hill fort on the crest of the Downs just over a mile south of the village. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Letcombe Regis. The name may come from the Old English ''Ledecumbe'' meaning the "lede in the combe" – ''i.e.'' "the brook in the valley." "Regis" may derive from the Latin 'rex' meaning 'Royal' with 'Regis' meaning The King's, giving, perhaps, "The Kings brook in the valley." Parish church The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew is a Grade II* listed building. St Andrew's parish is part of the Ridgeway Benefice, along with the parishes of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury, Essex and Gravesend, Kent, via the Thames Estuary. From the west it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor. The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London. In August 2022, the source of the river moved five miles to beyond Somerford Keynes due to the heatwave in July 2022. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of . From Oxford to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Letcombe Valley
Letcombe Valley is a nature reserve south of Letcombe Regis in Oxfordshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), with the assistance of the Friends of Letcombe Valley. The reserve was part of a manor formerly known as Benhams, which was purchased in 1851 by a racehorse owner called Thomas Parr. After the Second World War, the manor became a centre for scientific research, which was acquired in 1985 by a chemical company, Dow Elanco. The company created a nature reserve on land next to Letcombe Brook, and when the research centre closed in 2002 the main part of the site was developed for housing. BBOWT was given a fifty-year lease on the nature reserve in 2010 as a condition of planning permission for the housing. Letcombe Brook, which runs through the reserve, is one of only two chalk streams in Oxfordshire and 161 nationwide. Wildlife includes water voles and fish such as bullhead, brown trout and the primitive brook lamprey. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) of Arezzo were the first to be crowned poets laureate after the classical age, respectively in 1315 and 1342. In Britain, the term dates from the appointment of Bernard André by Henry VII of England. The royal office of Poet Laureate in England dates from the appointment of John Dryden in 1668. In modern times a poet laureate title may be conferred by an organization such as the Poetry Foundation, which designates a Young People's Poet Laureate, unconnected with the National Youth Poet Laureate and the United States Poet Laureate. The office is also popular with regional and community groups. Examples include the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate, which is designated by a "Presenting Partners" group from within the community, the Minnesota poet l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, helping to save St Pancras railway station from demolition. He began his career as a journalist and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television. Life Early life and education Betjeman was born John Betjemann. He was the son of a prosperous silverware maker of Dutch descent. His parents, Mabel (''née'' Dawson) and Ernest Betjemann, had a family firm at 34–42 Pentonville Road which manufactured the kind of ornamental household furniture and gadgets distinctive to Victorians. During the First World War the family name was changed to the less German-looking Betjeman. His father's forebears had actually come from the present day Netherlands more than a century earlier, setting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brook Lamprey
The brook lamprey (''Lampetra planeri'', also known as the European brook lamprey and the western brook lamprey) is a small European lamprey species that exclusively inhabits freshwater environments. The species is related to, but distinct from, the North American western brook lamprey ('' Lampetra richardsoni''). Description The brook lamprey is a common, non-parasitic species that ranges from North America to northern Europe. Adult brook lampreys measure from . The body is highly elongated and dark blue or greenish above, lightening to yellowish off-white on the sides and pure white on the ventral side. Like all lampreys, these fish lack paired fins and possess a circular sucking disc instead of jaws, which is filled with blunt teeth. They have a single nostril and seven small gill openings on either side behind the eye. The brook lamprey can be told from the closely related river lamprey (''Lampetra fluviatilis'') by the fact that its two dorsal fins are more closely linke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Bullhead
The European bullhead (''Cottus gobio'') is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the family Cottidae, a type of sculpin. It is also known as the miller's thumb, freshwater sculpin, common bullhead, and cob. The European bullhead is a small demersal fish that lives both in cold, clear, fast-flowing small streams and in middle-sized rivers. It also occurs on gravelly shores of cold lakes. Further, it thrives in diluted brackish water of the Northern Baltic Sea. Description The bullhead has a large broad head and tapering body, large fins and a rounded tail. The eyes are located near the top of the head. To the distinction from the other freshwater sculpin species found in Northern Europe, it can be told from the alpine bullhead ''Cottus poecilopus'' by the fact that the rays of its pelvic fins are of similar lengths while the first and last rays are longer in the alpine bullhead. It can be distinguished from the fourhorn sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Water Vole
The European water vole or northern water vole (''Arvicola amphibius''), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair. In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years. Appearance Water voles reach in length, plus a tail which is about half the length of the body. Weights reported for adults are variable. It is possible for large, optimal adults to weigh as much as However, these are peak weights. Elsewhere, the mean body mass has been reported as , although this figure includes immature water voles. The minimum weight to successfully breed as well as to survive winter is reportedly in females and in males.Yavuz, Güliz, Ercüment Çolak, and Teoman Kankılıç. ''Investig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chalk Stream
Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, the water in the streams contains little organic matter and sediment and is generally very clear. The beds of the rivers are generally composed of clean, compacted gravel and flints, which are good spawning areas for Salmonidae fish species. Since they are fed primarily by aquifers, the flow rate, mineral content and temperature range of chalk streams exhibit less seasonal variation than other rivers. They are mildly alkaline and contain high levels of nitrate, phosphate, potassium and silicate. In addition to algae and diatoms, the streams provide a suitable habitat for macrophytes (including water crowfoot) and oxygen levels are generally supportive of coarse fish populations. Of the 210 rivers classified as chalk streams globally, 160 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Ock
The River Ock is a small English river which is a tributary of the River Thames. It has as its catchment area the Vale of White Horse, a low-lying and wide valley in south Oxfordshire, and flows into the River Thames, at Abingdon on the reach above Culham Lock. Course The River Ock rises near the village of Little Coxwell. It collects tributaries from each village along the base of the White Horse Hills, where springs emanating from the chalk hills allowed settlements to flourish in former times. Among these tributaries is the Osse Stream, rising in Cumnor. From Little Coxwell, the Ock runs around Longcot and flows past Stanford in the Vale, where it is about wide. The name of Stanford comes from ''stony ford'', possibly alluding to the Ock crossing at Stanford Mill. Thence it runs past Charney Bassett, Lyford, Garford and Marcham Mill, before losing its identity and its waters to the Thames at Abingdon by the old Hygienic Laundry building. An iron bridge crosses at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vale Of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway National Trail in its far south, across the North Wessex Downs AONB at the junction of four counties. The northern boundary is defined by the River Thames. The name refers to Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric hill figure. History The area has been long settled as a productive fertile chalklands above well-drained clay valleys and well-farmed with many small woodlands and hills between the Berkshire Downs and the River Thames on its north and east sides. It is named after the prominent and large Bronze Age-founded Uffington White Horse hill figure. The name "Vale of the White Horse" predates the present-day local authority district, having been described, for example, in the 1870-72 ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales''. The distri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Hanney
East Hanney is a village, and civil parish on Letcombe Brook about north of Wantage. Historically East and West Hanney were formerly a single ecclesiastical parish of Hanney.Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 285-294 East Hanney was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. Churches East Hanney had a chapel by 1288, dedicated to Saint James, but Alice Yate is said to have dissolved it after she took over the manor in 1546. The present Church of England parish church of Saint James the Less was designed by the Gothic Revival architect George Edmund Street in a 13th century English style and built in 1856. It has since been made redundant and converted into a private home. Hanney Chapel is Non-conformist and was built in 1862. It was closed after the First World War but reopened in 1943. Economic history Dandridge's Mill is a Georgian water mill built in the 1820s as a silk mill. It is a Grade II Listed buildin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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