saltmarsh developed on both sides but principally on the right bank north and south of Neston.
The estuary owes its origins to the scouring of a broad channel through the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
sandstones and
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
mudstones by glacial ice during successive
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
s to form an
iceway. The channel continues inland south of Chester but its higher reaches have long since been infilled with sand, gravel and mud. The process of infilling by mud continues to the present day as the rapid growth of the saltmarsh in the last century testifies, pushing the high tide line further out into the estuary.
Uses
Industry
Large parts of the catchment are devoted to agriculture and there a number of abstractions made from the river for summer irrigation. The volumes involved are not however significant.
From Chirk downstream, the river valley has supported a wide range of industries that were initially drawn to the area by the presence of coal mines and later by the deep deposits of
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
s used to make
brick
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
s and
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...
s.
The coal industry in particular gave rise to a number of chemical industries some of which survive to this day and which both take water from the river and discharge their cleaned up effluent back into the river. Industries in the valley include commercial chemicals manufacture, wood chip and
MDF fabrication,
cocoa milling,
fibreglass manufacture,
waste disposal
Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final Waste disposal, disposal. This includes the Waste collection, collection, transport, Sewage treatment, treatm ...
(in old
clay pit
A clay pit is a quarry or Mining, mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits.
A brickyard or brickwor ...
s) and a great variety of smaller industries concentrated around
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
. The main impact on the river of these industries is their thirst for a dependable good quality water supply.
Previously the wings for the
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...
, which were made at Airbus's manufacturing factory in
Broughton, were taken downriver by barge to the
Port of Mostyn because they were too large to be shipped in an
Airbus Beluga. However, the dredging of the river for the barge may be responsible for a weakening of the
tidal bore.
Abstractions
There are a number of direct water abstractions upstream of Chester by three water companies and by the canal. The size of the abstraction is very large compared to the summer flow and the flow in the river is very highly regulated through the use of reservoirs to store water in the winter and release it in the summer. The whole system is managed as the
Dee Regulation Scheme.
Below Chester water is also abstracted as cooling water by the gas-fired power station at
Connah's Quay. Process and cooling water is also abstracted for the
paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...
and power station at
Shotton.
Water sport
The Dee used to be a popular
whitewater kayaking
Whitewater kayaking is an outdoor adventure sport where paddlers navigate a river in a specially designed kayak. Whitewater kayaking includes several styles: river running, creeking, slalom, playboating, and squirt boating. Each style offers ...
and touring river (particularly the grade III/IV whitewater section upstream of Llangollen). It stays high after rain for longer than most British rivers and is paddleable year-round (thanks to the Dee Regulation Scheme). Canoeing used to be allowed on about twelve weekends per year, and tens of thousands of canoeists descended on Llangollen for recreational paddling (several
Dee tours were held every winter),
slalom competitions, and
wild water races.
In 2003, negotiations with the
angling
Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...
associations owning fishing rights on the Dee broke down. The anglers wanted to restrict the numbers of paddlers on the river when paddling was allowed but the Welsh Canoe Association wanted to renew the previous agreement. In November 2004, a protest about the lack of access on the Dee, and to rivers across England and Wales, was held in Llangollen. Following the failure of the access agreement, the Welsh Canoeing Association advises canoeists to use their own judgement about using the river, which in practice means many canoeists use the river at will from the numerous access points along its banks.
Canoeing is permitted on one 100 m long rapid, 1 km upstream of Llangollen. Wildwater and slalom races are still held at Serpent's Tail rapid upstream of Llangollen.
A major tributary of the Dee, the
River Tryweryn, supports a wide range of water sports and hosts the
Canolfan Tryweryn - the national white water centre for Wales.
Each July the
Chester Raft Race is held on the Dee in aid of charity.
The Deva (Chester) Triathlon uses the Dee for the swim leg of the race.
The rowing clubs on the Dee are
Royal Chester Rowing Club (hosting also Chester University Rowing Club) and
Grosvenor Rowing Club.
King's School Rowing Club and Queens Park High School are school-dedicated rowing clubs. All these share the slightly meandering Chester/lower reach above the weir.
Fishing
The river has been famed as a mixed fishery with salmon and
trout fishing, mostly in the upper waters and a good coarse fishery in the lower reaches. A major pollution incident in the middle reaches in the late 1990s did extensive damage to the fishery from which it is now largely recovered.
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Afon Dyfrdwy (River Dee) is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
(SSSI) in the preserved county of
Clwyd
Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...
, along the River Dee, as is the nearby River Dee (England) SSSI in England. The Dee Cliffs at
Farndon, Cheshire, are designated as a separate SSSI, as are the Dee Marshes on the northern (English) side of the estuary.
The river has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation because of its role as a habitat for
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...
and
floating water plantain.
See also
*
Aerfen, the Celtic Goddess of the river.
*
List of crossings of the River Dee, Wales
*
List of SSSIs in Clwyd
* "
Miller of Dee", a traditional folk song
References
References
*
*
*
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*
*
*
External links
River Dee guideDee Estuary bird lifeDee Estuary photos"The adventures of a salmon in the river Dee"(1853)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dee
Rivers of Cheshire
Rivers of Denbighshire
Rivers of Flintshire
Rivers of Gwynedd
Rivers of Merseyside
Rivers of Shropshire
Rivers of Snowdonia
Rivers of Wrexham County Borough
River navigations in the United Kingdom
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Clwyd