The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the
Border region in Scotland and northern England.
Tweed cloth
Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...
derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an
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 ...
rod licence is not required for
angling
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...
. The river generates a large income for the local borders region, attracting anglers from all around the world.
Etymology
''Tweed'' may represent an
Old Brittonic
Common Brittonic ( cy, Brythoneg; kw, Brythonek; br, Predeneg), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, was a Celtic language spoken in Britain and Brittany.
It is a form of Insular Celtic, descended from Proto-Celtic, a ...
name meaning "border". A doubtful proposal is that the name is derived from a non-Celtic form of the
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
root ''*teuha-'' meaning "swell, grow powerful".
Course
![Tweed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Tweed.tributaries.jpg)
The River Tweed flows primarily through the scenic
Borders
A border is a geographical boundary.
Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film
* ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
region of Scotland. Eastwards from the settlements on opposing banks of
Birgham
Birgham is a village in Berwickshire, parish of Eccles in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near Coldstream and the River Tweed, on the A698.
Birgham is close to Ednam, Kelso, Lempitlaw, ...
and
Carham
Carham or Carham on Tweed is a village in Northumberland, England. The village lies on the south side of the River Tweed about west of Coldstream. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, it is the place in England with greatest proportion o ...
it forms the historic boundary between Scotland and England.
It rises in the Lowther Hills at
Tweed's Well near to where the
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
, draining northwest ( from the Tweed's Well), and the
Annan draining south ( from the Tweed's Well) also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" is a saying from the Border region. East of
Kelso, it becomes a section of the eastern part of the border. Entering England, its lower reaches are in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, where it enters the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
at
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
.
Catchment
The river east of
St Boswells runs through a
drumlin field
A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...
. It is the relic of a paleo-
ice stream
An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of a year, and can be up to in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length. They t ...
that flowed through the area during the last glaciation. Major towns through which the Tweed flows include
Innerleithen
Innerleithen ( gd, Inbhir Leitheann) is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale.
Etymology
The name "Innerleithen" comes ...
,
Peebles
Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...
,
Galashiels
Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...
,
Melrose,
Kelso,
Coldstream
Coldstream ( gd, An Sruthan Fuar , sco, Caustrim) is a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream is the home of the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army.
Description
Coldstream l ...
and
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
, where it flows into the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. Tweed
tributaries
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 drainag ...
include:
*
Whiteadder Water
Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside ...
**
Blackadder Water
Blackadder Water () is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system. It reached 2.84m at Mouthbridge, which was its highest level ever recorded on Tuesday 22 October 2002 at 2:45pm.
Et ...
*
River Till
*
Eden Water
Eden Water is a tributary of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders of Scotland. "Water" is the Lowland Scots term for a small river.
The Eden Burn rises to the east of Lauder at Corsbie Moor on Boon Farm. The Eden Water passes Bassendean vil ...
*
Teviot Water
*
Leader Water
The River Leader, or Leader Water, is a small tributary of the River Tweed in Lauderdale in the Scottish Borders. It flows southwards from the Lammermuir Hills through the towns of Lauder and Earlston, joining the River Tweed at Leaderfoot.
Cou ...
*
Gala Water
The Gala Water ( Lowland Scots: Gala Watter; Scottish Gaelic An Geal Ath) is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland and a tributary of the River Tweed. It is sometimes known as the "Gala", which nickname is also shared with Galashiels, ...
*
Leithen Water
Leithen Water ( gd, Leitheann / Abhainn Leitheinn) is a tributary of the River Tweed in Scotland. It rises in the Moorfoot Hills and joins the Tweed near the town of Innerleithen, whose name comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''inbhir'', meaning a ...
*
Quair Water
The Quair Water is a tributary of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Its name is related to Traquair.
Etymology
The name ''Quair'' has a Brittonic etymology. It may be derived from the element ''*wejr'' (<''*wẹ:drā'')
*
Eddleston Water
Eddleston Water is a small river north of Peebles, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland which joins the River Tweed at Peebles. It is also known locally as "The Cuddy".
Eddleston Water rises near Mount Lothian and passes through Waterheads, ...
*
Manor Water
Manor Water is a river in the parish of Manor, Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders. It rises in the Ettrick Forest and flows down through the Maynor valley, passing the various farms and hamlets of Maynor as well as Kirkton Manynor, where the M ...
*
Lyne Water
The Lyne Water is a tributary of the River Tweed that rises in the Pentland Hills of southern Scotland at Baddinsgill Reservoir. It runs through West Linton and Romannobridge, passes Flemington and Lyne Station and enters the Tweed west of Pe ...
*
Holms Water
The Holms Water is a river and a tributary of the Biggar Water, which is a tributary of the River Tweed, in the parish of Broughton, Glenholm and Kilbucho in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near Glenkirk, Stanhope, Peeblesshire and Hear ...
The upper parts of the catchment of the Tweed in Scotland form the area known as
Tweeddale
Tweeddale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Srath Thuaidh/Tuaidhdail'') is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local gov ...
, part of which is protected as the
Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area, one of 40
such areas in Scotland which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.
Management
Despite that the catchment straddles the border between Scotland and England, management of it- in terms of water quality, bio-security, and ultimately protection of the salmon of the River Tweed- is overseen by a single body, the River Tweed Commission.
See also
*
List of places in the Scottish Borders
''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties.
This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlets, castles, golf courses, historic ...
*
Tweeddale
Tweeddale (Scottish Gaelic: ''Srath Thuaidh/Tuaidhdail'') is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders council area in south-eastern Scotland. It had also been a province in the Middle Ages. From 1975 to 1996 it was a local gov ...
*
Anglo–Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands".
The ...
*
Union Bridge
*
Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland
*
Rivers of the United Kingdom
For details of rivers of the United Kingdom, see
* List of rivers of England
* List of rivers of Scotland
* List of rivers of Wales
* Northern Ireland: see List of rivers of Ireland and Rivers of Ireland
* Longest rivers of the United Kingdom
Ov ...
*
Both sides the Tweed
Gallery
Wfm tweed abottsford.jpg, The River Tweed at Abbotsford, near Melrose
River Tweed from Mertoun House.jpg, The River Tweed from Mertoun House, near St Boswells
Anglo-Scottish.border.history.jpg, The Anglo-Scottish border, with the Tweed on the east. Its estuary and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
were a late annexation by England.
Union Chain Bridge between England and Scotland, 2019.jpg, The Union Chain Bridge spanning the Tweed between Horncliffe
Horncliffe is a village in the county of Northumberland, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Tweed about south west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and about north east of Norham and is the most northerly village in England
England ...
, England and Fishwick Fishwick is a surname. It is from multiple locations in England, but predominantly from a place now in Preston, Lancashire; other origins are Fishwick in Kingsteignton, Devon, and possibly Fisherwick in Staffordshire. It may also derive from Fishwi ...
, Scotland
Notes
External links
British Waterways: River TweedThe River Tweed Commission websiteThe Tweed FoundationTweed Forum websiteRiver Tweed: Special Area of Conservation (SAC)SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency): River Level DataPaper describing palaeo-icestream and landforms in the Tweed Valley* Map and aerial photo sources for and
Open Canoe Hire Specialists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweed, River
Rivers of Northumberland
Tweed
Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...
Anglo-Scottish border
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Annandale and Eskdale
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berwickshire and Roxburgh
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Mid and East Lothian
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Tweeddale and Ettrick and Lauderdale