River Tame, Greater Manchester

Infobox River
river_name = River Tame

|200px
caption = River Tame, seen here near Reddish Vale.
origin = Denshaw, Greater Manchester
mouth = River Mersey
basin_countries = England
length =
elevation =
mouth_elevation = 40m [cite web
url = http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GENW0805BJNE-e-e.pdf
title = Mersey and Bollin Catchment abstraction management strategy
accessdate = 2007-03-13
author = Boyce, D
authorlink =
month = August | year = 2005
format = pdf
publisher = Environment Agency North West, Warrington
pages = p5]
discharge =
watershed = 146 km² [cite web
url = http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GENW0304BHWM-e-e.pdf
title = The Tame, Goyt and Etherow catchement abstraction management strategy
accessdate = 2007-03-13
author = Boyce, D
authorlink =
month = March | year = 2004
format = pdf
publisher = Environment Agency, Warrington
pages = p6]

The River Tame is a river in Greater Manchester, England.

ource

Rises on Denshaw Moor in Greater Manchester, close to the border with West Yorkshire

Course

Most of the rivers catchment lies on the western flank of the Pennines. The named river starts as compensation flow (that is, a guaranteed minimum discharge [cite web | url= http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/nrfa/gauging_station_network/glossary.htm | title= Glossary | accessdate= 2008-01-08 | publisher= Centre for Ecology and Hydrology ] ) from Readycon Dean Reservoir in the moors above Denshaw. The source is a little further north, just over the county border in West Yorkshire, close to the Pennine Way. The highest point of the catchment is Greater Manchester's highest point at Black Chew Head.

It flows south through Delph, Uppermill, Mossley, Stalybridge, Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, Haughton Green, Denton and Hyde. The section through Stalybridge was once mooted as a diversion route for the restoration of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. For part of its course, the river marks part of the historic boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire.

The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology measures the flow at two points for the National River Flow Archive, at Portwood weir (Stockport) and at Broomstairs weir (Denton). Portwood weir is 2 km above the confluence with the Mersey, and contains the great majority of the final flow (with the exception of waste water from a concrete facility). [cite web | url= http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/nrfa/station_summaries/069/027.html | title= 69027 - Tame at Portwood | accessdate= 2008-01-08 | work= The National River Flow Archive | publisher= Centre for Ecology and Hydrology ]

Mouth

It joins the River Goyt at Stockport, forming the River Mersey.

Toponomy

The name "Tame" is attached to rivers across the UK in several forms, including Thames, Thame, Taff, and Tamar, alongside two other instances of Tame. [cite book | title= The Place-Names of Lancashire | series= Publications of the University of Manchester, English series, number 11 | author= Ekwall, Bror Oscar Eilert | year= 1922 | location= Manchester ] cite book | title= A dictionary of English place-names | author= Mills, A D | year= 1998 | publisher= Oxford University Press | location= Oxford | isbn= 0-19-280074-4 ] The name is Celtic in origin, but the meaning is uncertain.cite book | title= English river names | author= Ekwall, Eilert | year= 1928 | publisher= Clarendon Press | location= Oxford ] cite book | title= The place-names of Cheshire, part 1 | author= Dodgson, J McN | year= 1966 | publisher= Cambridge University Press ] "Dark river" or "dark one" has been suggested, [cite book | title= The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names | author= Ekwall, Bror Oscar Eilert | year= 1947 | publisher= Clarendon Press | location= Oxford ] [cite book | title= Cheshire Place-Names (Reprinted from the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire) | author= Potter, Simeon M A | year= 1955 | publisher= International University Booksellers | location= London ] but Ekwall finds it unlikely; Mills suggests it may simply mean "river" (c.f. Avon, Humber, Tyne). The names of the Mersey's co-tributaries Etherow and Goyt are equally ancient and mysterious. Mersey is an Old English name (ie more recent) derived from "river at the boundary". The earlier name is lost: Dodgson suggests that Tame may have been the name for the whole of the Mersey.

The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is named after the river. While it flows through the borough, the river neither rises nor finishes inside its boundaries; however, most of the built-up area alongside the river is in Tameside. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council uses Tame Valley as shorthand for the wards of Brinnington and Central (ie central Stockport), Reddish North, and Reddish South. [cite web | url= http://www.stockport.gov.uk/content/councildemoc/council/decisionmaking/areacommittees/tamevalleycommittee | title= Tame Valley Area Committee | accessdate= 2008-01-11 | publisher= Stockport MBC ]

Fauna

The fish species present vary along the river's length. The lower reaches (near Reddish Vale Country Park) are home to coarse fish such as gudgeon ("Gobio gobio"), chub ("Leuciscus cephalus"), and roach ("Rutilus rutilus"); pike ("Esox lucius") and perch ("Perca fluviatilis") are also present. The upper reaches (above Ashton) support brown trout ("Salmo trutta") and smaller numbers of some coarse fish. The populations are self-sustaining. [cite web | url= http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/regions/northwest/346910/346950/588312/588785/924194/924221/?lang=_e | title= River Tame fish survey | date= 8 December 2004 | accessdate= 2008-01-07 | publisher= Environment Agency ] Furthermore,
*Carr Brook (from its source to the Tame)
*Diggle Brook (from Diggle Reservoir to the Tame)
*Hull Brook (Head of Lower Castleshaw Reservoir to the Tame)
*Swineshaw Brook (from the Head of Swineshaw Reservoir to the Tame)
*and the Tame (from the Head of Readycon Dean Reservoir to foot of New Years Bridge Reservoir)

are all declared as salmonid waters by statute, and as such have set physical and chemical water quality objectives. [cite web | url= http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/water/quality/fwfish/ | title= Freshwater Fish Directive | date= 13 January 2004 | accessdate= 2008-01-08 | publisher= DEFRA ] [cite web | url= http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/water/quality/fwfish/98f-sch2.pdf | title= Schedule 2 Freshwaters in England and Wales to which Classification SW applies | month= July | year= 1998 | accessdate= 2008-01-08 | publisher= DEFRA |format=PDF]

Hull brook is a SBI. Hull Brook and Castleshaw reservoir have populations of white-clawed crayfish. [cite web | url= http://documents.oldham.gov.uk/edrs/DET07100029.doc | title= Report on update of sites of biological importance | date= 15 October 2007 | accessdate= 2008-01-20 | publisher= Oldham MBC | format= Word document] The river is now clean enough in principle to support otter, but none were found in a survey in 2000–2002. [cite web | url= http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/4th_otter_survey_1840368.pdf | title= Fourth Otter Survey of England 2000–2002 | year= 2002 | accessdate= 2008-02-04 | publisher= Environment Agency | format= PDF]

ee also

*River Tame, West Midlands
*Rivers of the United Kingdom

References

Notes

Bibliography

*cite book | title= Manchester and its region : a survey prepared for the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Manchester August 29 to September 5 1962 | editor= Carter, Charles Frederick (ed) | year= 1962 | publisher= Manchester University Press | location= Manchester
*cite book | title= Stockport : a history | author= Arrowsmith, Peter | year= 1997 | publisher= Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council | location= Stockport | isbn= 0-905164-99-7
*cite book | title= Stott & Sons : architects of the Lancashire cotton mill | author= Holden, Roger N. | year= 1998 | publisher= Carnegie | location= Lancaster | isbn= 1-85936-047-5
*cite book | title= Cotton mills in Greater Manchester | author= Williams, Mike| coauthors= D A Farnie | year= 1992 | publisher= Carnegie | location= Preston | isbn= 0-948789-69-7
*cite book | title= Tame Valley : report of survey and issues | author= Greater Manchester Council | year= 1981 | publisher= Greater Manchester Council

External links

* [http://www.merseybasin.org.uk/page.asp?id=2845 Mersey basin]