The River Trent

My personal challenge for this round of Miss Jenny Matlock's alphabe-Thursday is to post about a location within the borders of my own county of Derbyshire, UK, for each letter of the alphabet.

Look for the letter, to see where I am.

T is for the River Trent.

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The river Trent runs right across south Derbyshire, entering the county from Burton on Trent in Staffordshire, skirting below Derby and heading east towards Nottingham; forming part of the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border on its way. 

At 171 miles, the Trent is one of Britain's more significant rivers. It is also unusual in that, for the latter half of its route, it flows north, eventually emptying into the Ouse and thus the Humber Estuary, close to Kingston upon Hull.

It hasn't always been called the 'Trent'. Under Roman rule, the river was the Trisantona, while the eighth century name was Treonte. The origins of the name are thought to come from the Celtic words tros (over) and hynt (way), probably referring to the way the river bisects many of the old tracks and trails, meaning that fords and ferries needed to be utilised to keep the flow of traffic moving.

The section of river which flows through Derbyshire is not navigable (though there were many disputes and much work done to change that fact back in the 18th Century, including some very underhand tactics used to prevent rival merchants from landing goods from the river - scuppering a barge to block a cutting; a line of guarded boats to form a barrier...)

Ultimately, river disputes were solved by the completion of the Trent and Mersey canal in 1777 at which time the Trent ceased to be used as a navigation upstream of Shardlow in Derbyshire.

Going further back in history, one might be pleased that the Trent had its navigable limitations, as the Danes and Anglo Saxons sailed up her to attack England!

Of course, the river has to earn its keep and there are a number of power stations along its route, including the now decommissioned one at Willington, just south of Derby.

Pylons in the countryside are not generally pretty, but there is something oddly attractive about the pattern of the structure.

This is Swarkestone Bridge, the 18th century replacement for a more ancient structure, most of which still remains, forming a narrow causeway over the wetlands towards Stanton by Bridge.

When the bridge section of the ancient structure was demolished, the stones were tossed into the Trent and left on the river bed, causing the broken water you see here.

Swarkestone Bridge marks the southernmost point of the journey of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (The Bonnie Prince of Scotland) in his campaign to take the English throne. With no support coming from France, it was at this point that the Prince's generals decided to turn back. The date was December 4th, 1745.

It's much more peaceful around here now (except for the constant hum of traffic) and this looks like an idyllic place to live. Nevertheless, I would think more than twice before buying a house this close to the water. The river does have a tendency to flood!

As you can see from the links, this is not the first time I've posted about parts of the river. It is close to home, full of history and extremely photogenic. How could I ignore that? :)