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THE RIVERS AND STREAMS
OF ENGLAND




AGENTS


AMERICA          THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
                   64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

AUSTRALASIA      THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
                   205 FLINDERS LANE, MELBOURNE

CANADA           THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.
                   ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE, 70 BOND STREET, TORONTO

INDIA            MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.
                   MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY
                   309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE DERWENT, HIGH TOR, MATLOCK, DERBYSHIRE]




THE
RIVERS & STREAMS
OF ENGLAND

PAINTED BY
SUTTON PALMER

DESCRIBED BY
A. G. BRADLEY

[Illustration: colophon]
PUBLISHED BY 4 SOHO SQUARE

ADAM AND CHARLES LONDON, W

BLACK MCMIX




PREFACE


Though this is not a book on angling, a life-long attachment to the
fly-rod on the part of the author, and to the delightful scenes into
which such predilections notoriously lead one, makes it at once more
difficult and more easy to write than if one were approaching the
subject as a stranger to the atmosphere, and merely to "write round" the
pictures Mr. Palmer has so admirably painted. But in my case it is by no
means only this. A predilection for British landscape in general, and
all that thereby hangs, has stimulated a far wider acquaintance with it
than any mere angling rambles could achieve, and resulted in the
publication of several books concerned with such things, and covering
more or less about twenty counties. I feel this explanation is
desirable, lest the note of intimacy with many far-sundered streams, in
allusion and otherwise, that must occur in these pages may be suspect.
The more so, as from the fascination of the Cook's ticket or what not,
comparatively few of my countrymen have any considerable knowledge of
their own land. The Rhine is certainly better known than the Wye, and
the Danube probably than the Severn.

But these very experiences made the first proposal to write a book,
other than a mere encyclopaedia, within a brief space on such a big
subject, seem almost hopeless. Rivers and streams from every direction,
by scores, came surging out upon the memory at the very thought of it,
in quite distracting fashion. It was finally agreed, however, that the
literary part of the book should take shape in a series of essays or
chapters dealing with the rivers mainly in separate groups or
water-sheds, leaving the proportions to my discretion. Capricious in a
measure this was bound to be. Selection was inevitable. It is not of
supreme importance. _Caeteris paribus_, and without diverging more than
necessary from the skilful illustrator, I have dealt more freely with
the rivers I know best, and also with those I hold to be more worthy of
notice. There are, of course, omissions, this book being neither a guide
nor an encyclopaedia, but rather a collection of descriptive essays and
of water-colour sketches covering, though necessarily in brief, most of
the groups. In this particular subject there is happily no need for
author and illustrator to keep close company in detail. What inspires
the pen, and in actual survey stirs the blood, is often unpaintable.
What makes a delightful picture, on the other hand, tells sometimes but
a dull tale in print. I have had to leave to the artist's capable brush,
owing to the necessary limitations of the letterpress, several subjects;
a matter, however, which seems to me as quite immaterial to the general
purport of the book, as it is unavoidable. But otherwise I think we run
reasonably together. At first sight the omission of the Thames in
description may seem outrageous. A moment's reflection, however, will, I
am sure, conduce to a saner view. Illustration is wholly another matter;
but to attempt ten or fifteen pages on that great and familiar river,
dealt with, too, in bulk and brief by innumerable pens, that could serve
any purpose or gratify any reader, seems to me a fatuous undertaking.
The Severn, on the other hand, as great, almost as important as the
Thames, and still more beautiful, is by comparison an absolutely unknown
river, and we have given it the first place.

A. G. B.




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I

                                                                    PAGE

THE SEVERN                                                             1

CHAPTER II

THE WYE                                                               39

CHAPTER III

THE CHALK STREAMS                                                     64

CHAPTER IV

THE BORDER RIVERS                                                    101

CHAPTER V

TWO AVONS                                                            149

CHAPTER VI

THE RIVERS OF DEVON                                                  161

CHAPTER VII

THE RIVERS OF THE SOUTH-EAST                                         209

CHAPTER VIII

THE YORKSHIRE DALES                                                  227

CHAPTER IX

AN EAST ANGLIAN RIVER                                                269




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


1. The Derwent, High Tor, Matlock                          _Frontispiece_

                                                             FACING PAGE
2. The Severn, near Arley, Shropshire                                  6

3. The Severn, Bridgenorth, Shropshire                                18

4. The Severn, near Cam, Gloucestershire                              30

5. Chepstow with Wye and Severn                                       34

6. The Wye, Haddon Hall, Derbyshire                                   38

7. The Wye, Hay, Breconshire                                          40

8. The Wye, Ross, Herefordshire                                       46

9. The Monnow, Old Bridge, Monmouth                                   52

10. The Wye, Symond's Yat, Herefordshire                              60

11. The Wye, Tintern, Monmouthshire                                   62

12. The Thames, looking towards Henley                                64

13. The Avon, near Salisbury                                          66

14. The Thames, the Bells of Ouseley, Old Windsor                     70

15. Stapleford on the Wiley                                           82

16. The Itchen, St. Cross, Winchester                                 88

17. The Itchen, and St. Giles' Hill, Winchester                       94

18. The Dove, Dovedale, Derbyshire                                   100

19. The Tyne, Hexham, Northumberland                                 102

20. The Coquet, and Warkworth Castle, Northumberland                 124

21. The Eden, Samson's Chamber, near Carlisle                        136

22. The Eden, near Lazonby, Cumberland                               140

23. The Derwent, Grange, Borrowdale                                  142

24. Skelwith Force, near Ambleside, Westmoreland                     144

25. The Derwent, Borrowdale, Cumberland                              146

26. The Brathay, Langdale, Westmoreland                              150

27. The Thames, Backwater by the Islands, Henley                     152

28. The Avon at Clifton                                              154

29. The Avon, Stratford, Warwickshire                                158

30. A Glimpse of the Thames, Kew                                     160

31. The Hamoaze, Devon