Torrent River
The Torrent River is a river which forges its course through Tyrone and enters the River Blackwater approximately 2½ miles from Maghery ferry, close to Lough Neagh.[1] It was once a great source of industrial water power driving mills along its length.[2]
The river flows through eastern Tyrone, and through the small village of Newmills three miles north of Dungannon.[3] Donaghmore village stands adjacent to the River Torrent, formerly known as the Torrent Flow.[4]
In its lower reaches, the Torrent widens and runs parallel to the Coalisland Canal, built to serve the Tyrone coalfield. The canal begins at Coalisland and joins the river soon afterwards, the river supplying the canal's water, remnant streams only following beside the canal. The canal and river enter the River Blackwater, which here marks the border with County Armagh, a couple of miles from Lough Neagh.
Geology
The Torrent is a long meandering river, which drains the hills to the north-west of Dungannon. The underlying geology is varied and includes basal clastic, carboniferous limestone, coal and Old Red Sandstone. In the upper reaches, the river channel is shallow and narrow with pebble/cobble substrate and sandy banks. Downstream the banks are vegetated with tall grasses and native tree species. There are also fishing weirs.
Canals
The Coalisland Canal, built to serve the Tyrone coalfield, and part of the course is a canalised section of the Torrent.
Dukart's Canal was built to provide transport for coal from the Drumglass Colleries to the Coalisland Canal, in Tyrone. The most prominent canal structure still extant is the ashlar stone aqueduct at Newmills, built around 1778, where the canal was carried over the River Torrent.[5]
References
- ↑ Navigating the River Blackwater - Culture Northern Ireland
- ↑ Coalisland - Torrent River - Culture Northern Ireland
- ↑ Newmills Potted History - Culture Northern Ireland
- ↑ "Donaghmore Area Profile". Donaghmore Living History. http://www.donaghmorelivinghistory.com/area_profile.htm. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ↑ Skempton, A.W. & Chrimes, Mike (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: 1500 to 1830. Thomas Telford. p. 191. ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.
Coordinates: 54°30′15″N 6°38′16″W / 54.50429°N 6.63789°W