River Eea
The River Eea is a small river in the Lake District, in the Furness Fells of Lancashire.
The Eea is a relatively short system that arises from numerous small becks and streams throughout the Cartmel Valley. Its course is approximately six miles long and the mouth is on Sand Gate marshes near Flookburgh, at the southern eend of the Cartmel Peninsula, draining across the Cartmel Sands towards the Ulverston Channel.
The rather vowel-ful name may be from the Old English ea meaning "river". An alternative suggestion is that eea was a Norse word for eel, and that the river was named for the large number of eels found in the lower course of the river during high tides at sea. A wilder suggestion has it that the name derives from the Old Cumbrian ia ('ice') indicating "the freezing river".
Geography
The river's source is a spring in the hills, meaning it flows all year round. Its upper course is called Whitestone Beck. The river's main tributaries are Muddypool and Ayside Beck, which converge above Cartmel.[1]
The river rises near High Cark in Newton Fell and the Whitestone Enclosure, and is soon fed by the Black Beck (emanating from Fair Rigg south of Staveley-in-Cartmel) and Ayside Pool (rising above Ayside).
From there, the River Eea runs past Green Bank and through Cartmel and Cark before flowing by way of Sand Gate Marsh into the estuary of the River Leven at Lenibrick Point, close to Chapel Island.
Geology
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On the west side of the river's basin the rock is mainly slate, but to the east there are deposits of limestone. Sinkholes in the limestone can cause the river to disappear for some time.
The river is used as a fieldwork study point for the Castle Head Field Studies Centre where students are able to measure variables of the river such as the stream velocity, width, depth, turbidity, pebble roundedness, sinuosity etc.
Fishing
The river is stocked with brown trout, but wild brown and sea trout are also found and fished from the river.[1]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about River Eea) |
- Location map:54°10’20"N, 2°59’36"W
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Laurence Tetley: 'The Lake District Angler's Guide' (Cicerone Press) ISBN 978-1-85284-283-3, pages 57–}}