Pendle Water is a minor

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. Rising on

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the Pe ...

, Pendle Water cuts a deep valley between Barley Moor and Spence Hill where it feeds into the reservoirs of ''Upper'' and ''Lower Ogden''. Upon exiting the lower reservoir Pendle Water flows east through the villages of

Barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

and

Roughlee Roughlee is a village in Pendle, Lancashire, England, in the civil parish of Roughlee Booth. It is close to Nelson, Barrowford and Blacko. The village lies at the foot of Pendle Hill, well known for the Pendle Witches, and includes the hamlet ...

before collecting

Blacko Blacko is a village and civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. Before local government reorganisation in 1974 the village lay on the border with the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish has a population of 672. The villa ...

Water which drains the Admergill Valley at Water Meetings near Wheathead, one mile west of the village of

. The river then flows south through

Higherford Higherford is a village in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. Although it is a village in its own right and shown on maps, it is sometimes confused with its larger neighbour Barrowford. Both villages meet each other on the A682 road, wh ...

and

Barrowford Barrowford () is a large village and civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It is situated to the north of Nelson on the other side of the M65 motorway, and forms part of the Nelson conurbation. It also comprises the area ...

where it is joined by

Colne Water Colne Water is a river in eastern Lancashire. It is approximately long and has a catchment area excluding its major tributaries (the River Laneshaw, Wycoller Beck, Trawden Brook and Wanless Water) of . Colne Water is formed at the Covey Bri ...

. It collects

Walverden Water Walverden Water is a minor river in Lancashire, England. It is approximately long and has a catchment area of . Course Beginning at Walverden Reservoir, which is fed by Catlow Brook (from the Coldwell Reservoirs near Boulsworth Hill) and its ...

as it passes the site of

Nelson and Colne College Nelson & Colne College is situated in the town of Nelson, Lancashire, North West of England, providing Further Education to Pendle and the surrounding districts. It is a tertiary college, offering courses to post-16 students, adult learners and ...

. From this point onwards, the river flows west past the ''Lomeshaye Industrial Estate'' alongside the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

towards its confluence with the River Calder in

Reedley Hallows Reedley Hallows or Reedley is a civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. It forms part of Burnley and Brierfield. It had a population of 1,994, reducing to 1,960 at the 2011 Census. It is on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, ...

, which is northwest of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. Pendle Water once supplied water to the ''Burnley Water Treatment Works'' which is situated on Wood End Lane.

Flooding Incidents

On Tuesday 8 August 1967, a flash flood caused devastation in the villages of Higherford and Barrowford. Work on the final phase of a £4 million flood alleviation scheme in Barrowford was completed by July 2006. The new flood defences seek to protect up to five hundred homes, and 18,000m² of industrial premises. The new scheme was opened in June 2006 by the then local MP

Gordon Prentice Gordon Prentice (born 28 January 1951) is a British former politician of the Labour Party who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pendle in Lancashire from 1992 to 2010. Early life He was educated at the independent George Heriot's School i ...

, who also unveiled the official

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I * Pla ...

at the ceremony. The scheme was created in a bid to avoid repeats of the severe flood of January 1992 and

deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...

s in both June and November 2000. The

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

faced an £900,000 bill to stop the river washing away the

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

which supports the M65 near the Reedyford Bridge at Barrowford, after the spate of flooding in October 2000.

Lomeshaye Marsh

At Lomeshaye, the construction of the

industrial estate An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...

and the two sewage treatment works that preceded it, has seen the river’s course straightened, with part of the old route still supplied with water by Edge End Brook. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the site has been regenerated into a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

, one of only a few in the catchment of Pendle Water. Numerous local organisations, including the ''Lomeshaye Marsh Preservation Group'', worked in conjunction with the

to restore the site. It has been declared a local nature reserve and a County Biological Heritage Site, in recognition of its ecological value. The local

special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

, Pendle Community College, was joint winner of the 2009 ''Ecover Ethical Kids'' Award in February 2010 for their involvement with the project.

Main Tributaries

Weir on Pendle Water, Roughlee - geograph

**Catlow Brook *

**Wanless Water ** Trawden Brook **

Wycoller Beck Wycoller Beck is a stream in Lancashire, running through Wycoller Country Park and the village of Wycoller in Pendle. It is long and has a catchment area of . The river joins the River Laneshaw at Covey Bridge near Laneshaw Bridge Lan ...

** River Laneshaw *Blacko Water **Admergill Water *White Hough Water *Barley Water *Ogden Clough

References

External links

Rivers of Lancashire Rivers of Burnley Rivers of the Borough of Pendle 1Pendle {{England-river-stub