On the road between Mead End and Broad Chalke - geograph

The River Chalke is a small river within the English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. It is the most significant

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

River Ebble The River Ebble is one of the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury. Rising at Alvediston to the west of the city, it joins the River Avon at Bodenham, near Nunton. Description The Ebble rises at Alvediston, to the west of Salisbury, ...

. The river rises at Mead End near

Bowerchalke Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about from the boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, Mi ...

and flows 1.2 miles north through the Chalke Valley to join the Ebble at Mount Sorrel, just upstream of

Broad Chalke Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke, Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of the city of Salisbury. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Knapp, Mount Sorrel and Stoke Farthing. ...

. It provides a steady, year-round flow of water; above the junction the Ebble is a winterbourne. A typical

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, th ...

, the Chalke is noted for its

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

and fish farms.

References

Chalke The Chalke Gate ( el, ), was the main ceremonial entrance ( vestibule) to the Great Palace of Constantinople in the Byzantine period. The name, which means "the Bronze Gate", was given to it either because of the bronze portals or from the gild ...

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