Colne Water from Bridge Street - geograph

Colne Water is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in eastern

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. It is approximately long and has a catchment area excluding its major

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

(the River Laneshaw, Wycoller Beck, Trawden Brook and Wanless Water) of . Colne Water is formed at the Covey Bridge near

Laneshaw Bridge Laneshawbridge (otherwise Laneshaw Bridge) is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in England. The population of the civil parish at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 918. It is to the east of Colne in Lancashire an ...

by the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the River Laneshaw and Wycoller Beck. From there, the

runs in a westerly direction toward the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

, collecting Trawden Brook at Cottontree. It continues through Colne's south valley, meeting Church Clough Brook in the Waterside area and passing under the East Lancashire railway line viaduct and the A56 Burnley Road at Primet Bridge. It is joined by Guy Syke at the Greenfield Bridge and passes the town's sewage works as it leaves, shortly afterwards collecting Wanless Water and then Swinden Clough just before it passes under the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

. It joins Pendle Water at the Lowerford part of

Barrowford Barrowford () is a village and civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England, north of Nelson, near the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Barrowford is on the Marsden–Gisburn–Long Preston turnpike. One of ...

, just after the

M65 motorway The M65 is a motorway between Preston, Lancashire, Preston and Colne in Lancashire, England. It runs from Bamber Bridge just south of Preston, through major junctions with the M6 motorway, M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Ac ...

bridge. The name Colne possibly originates from the ancient British language, but the meaning is uncertain. It is thought that the town takes its name from the river. Water (OE ) is a common name for a stream, most often found in southern Scotland.Ekwall, p20.

References

External links

Rivers of Lancashire Rivers of the Borough of Pendle 2Colne {{England-river-stub