The River Petteril 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 ...

running through the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

. The source of the Petteril is near

Penruddock Penruddock is a small village in Cumbria, England, 5.5 miles to the west of Penrith. It forms part of the civil parish of Hutton. History The name Penruddock is Cumbric. With both red soil and red sandstone in the area to the south, the w ...

and

Motherby Motherby is a surname, and may refer to: * George Motherby (bapt. 1731 – 1793), English physician and medical writer * Robert Motherby Robert Motherby (23 December 1736 – 13 February 1801) was an English merchant in based in East Prussia ...

, from where the young river runs southeast through Greystoke, Blencow and Newton Reigny, before passing under the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

, after which the river turns north, and the motorway roughly follows the course of the river towards

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

. Having reached Carlisle, the Petteril runs a course through the south east of Carlisle, dividing the suburbs of Harraby, Upperby and

Botcherby Botcherby is a former village in Cumbria, England, now considered a suburb of the city of Carlisle. It is located east of the River Petteril south of its confluence with the River Eden, Cumbria. History Botcherby was first named in 1170 and bec ...

, and running alongside the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

for a significant distance, before joining the River Eden on its journey to the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...

. Along its course, the major tributaries of the Petteril include the River North Petteril, Stony Beck, Calthwaite Beck, Blackrack Beck, and Woodside Beck. The Petteril was in the news in 2022 following a freight train derailment on 19 October, where the railway crosses the river near Carlisle. One cement wagon ended up upside down in the river.Photographs and article, ''RAIL'' issue 969, 2 November 2022

Sources

Rivers of Cumbria Eden catchment {{England-river-stub