The River Lostock is a

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. The source of the Lostock is at the confluence of Slack Brook and Whave's Brook at the entrance to Miller Wood near Withnell Fold. Slack Brook drains an area around

Brindle Brindle is a coat (animal), coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cattle, guinea pigs, Cat, cats, and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger-striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger' ...

, having its source close to Thorpe Green just outside the village, whereas Whave's Brook rises near Brimmicroft and runs southwards, almost parallel to 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 ...

by Ollerton Fold. Whave's Brook is fed by Laund Brook, running northwards from close to

Withnell Withnell is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it had a population of 3,631, reducing to 3,498 at the census of 2011. Withnell is about north-east of Chorley itself and ...

. The Lostock continues along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to Lower Copthurst, where it turns westwards, watering

Whittle-le-Woods Whittle-le-Woods (commonly shortened to Whittle) is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 5,434. Whittle-le-Woods lie ...

before turning north by

Clayton-le-Woods Clayton-le-Woods (Commonly shortened to Clayton) is a large village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it has a population of 14,528. At the 2011 census the population of Cuerde ...

, then running through the Cuerden Valley Park. Having been joined by Clayton Brook, draining the village of the same name to the east, the river moves westwards, skirting

Lostock Hall Lostock Hall is a suburban village within the South Ribble borough of Lancashire, England. It is located on the south side of the River Ribble, some south of Preston and north of Leyland. It is bordered on its southeastern side by the i ...

, then flows south west, past

Farington Farington is a village and civil parish in the South Ribble local government district of Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 6,674. History The parish was part of Preston Rural District throughout ...

and through the western suburbs of the town of Leyland, collecting Mill Brook (from

Worden Park Worden Park is a large area of parkland situated on the outskirts of Leyland, a town in the borough of South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is less than a quarter of a mile from the town centre. History Farington family The Farington family ...

) and Hollin's Brook (draining Runshaw Moor), before moving west once again towards

Croston Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917. History Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...

, where it collects Wymott Brook (emanating from close to

Midge Hall Midge Hall is a small village on the outskirts of Leyland in the borough of South Ribble, Lancashire, England. Notable features include the Midge Hall pub, a mill which produces animal feed and a test track for cars and wagons from the Leylan ...

) before joining the River Yarrow shortly afterwards.

Etymology

''Lostock'' could primarily be a settlement name (see

) and may, like other similar names in Lancashire, be derived from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''hlōse-'', meaning "a pig-sty", and ''-stoc'', "a place, secondary settlement". The name could also be a

Brittonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

hydronym A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a ...

, derived from ''lost'', chiefly (perhaps metaphorically) meaning "a tail" (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''llost''). This is suffixed with the nominal suffix ''-ǭg''. A derivative of the aforementioned ''lost'', ''*lostǭg'', perhaps meaning "a beaver" (though note Cornish ''lostek'', "fox") could also underlie the name.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s and fish. Cchemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. The water quality of the River Lostock system was as follows in 2016. Reasons for the quality being less than good include sewage discharge, physical modification of the channel and poor nutrient management of agricultural land.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lostock Rivers of Chorley 1Lostock