The River Sow is a tributary of the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and is the river that flows through

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

Course

The river rises to the south of Loggerheads, near Broughton and flows south-east beside the villages of Fairoak, Bishop’s Offley and Walk Mill until it reaches

Cop Mere Cop Mere is one of the largest natural bodies of water in Staffordshire, England covering . It has been designated a SSSI as an oligotrophic mire rich in ''Sphagnum'' moss, and other plant and animal life are present in sufficient numbers and rar ...

. East of the Mere the river is joined by the Brockton Brook before it flows past

Eccleshall Eccleshall is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. His ...

and its castle. The Sow continues south-east passing Chebsey, where it is joined by the Meece Brook before reaching the mill at Worston and then Little and

Great Bridgeford Great Bridgeford is a village in Staffordshire, England. Population details taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census can be found under Seighford. It lies on the A5013 road, A5013 and is the point where the List of B roads in Great Brit ...

. The river then flows through the nature reserve of

Doxey Marshes Doxey Marshes is a nature reserve located within two miles of Stafford town centre, and is managed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wet grassland habitat and its breeding wading birds ...

until it reaches Stafford, where it flows through Victoria park. Beyond the town at

Baswich Baswich is an estate on the south eastern side of Stafford. It is part of the civil parish of Berkswich and is in Staffordshire, England. It is situated next to Weeping Cross, which is also part of the civil parish. Baswich amenities are a local ...

the Sow is joined by its largest tributary the

River Penk The River Penk is a small river flowing through Staffordshire, England. Its course is mainly within South Staffordshire, and it drains most of the northern part of that district, together with some adjoining areas of Cannock Chase, Stafford, Wo ...

, it then continues beneath the bridge between

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

and

Tixall Tixall is a small village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford. The populat ...

until it flows through the grounds of

Shugborough Hall Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England. The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolutio ...

to meet the Trent near Essex Bridge.

Navigation

Between 1816 and the 1920s, the section between Stafford and Baswich was navigable, and was known as the

River Sow Navigation The River Sow Navigation was a short river navigation in Staffordshire, England, which connected the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to the centre of Stafford. There was a coal wharf in Stafford, and a single lock to connect it to the ...

. There are plans to restore it, which are being spearheaded by a

community interest company A community interest company (CIC, colloquially pronounced "kick") is a type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social ente ...

called Stafford Riverway Link.

Environment

The river was tested in 2009 and had pH levels of 7.6.

Oxygen saturation Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...

levels at the source of the river are 68%. Fish species found in the river include Chub,

Roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

and

Bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

.Imagining Staffordshire - Life on the River Sow
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Bibliography

References

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