The River Spen or Spen Beck, in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England is a tributary of the River Calder. It rises north of

Cleckheaton Cleckheaton is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and so ...

, runs through Liversedge and flows into the Calder to the south of

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

at Ravensthorpe. The average rainfall for the river valley of between 600–1000mm per annum when combined with the steep narrow river channel, makes the Spen susceptible to regular flooding. It is referred to in the name of the local parliamentary constituency,

Batley and Spen Batley and Spen was a constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The most recent MP was Kim Leadbeater, a Labour Party (UK), Labour politician, who was elected in 2021 Batley and Spen by-el ...

, to account for the villages and suburbs of Batley in the Spen Valley, such as Liversedge and Gomersal.

Course

The River Spen is formed at the confluence of Hunsworth Beck and Nann Hall Beck in

. The river flows south past industrial premises parallel to a dismantled railway line before turning south east on the outskirts of Liversedge. It continues south east through the industrial centre of the town before returning southwards along the edge of Heckmondwike. On the outskirts of Ravensthorpe, the river turns south east again before joining the River Calder.

Natural history

The Spen is mainly an urban waterway and has been polluted by sewage effluent and industrial waste, though levels of pollutants and

mine water Pit water, mine water or mining water is water that collects in a mining, mine and which has to be brought to the surface by water management methods in order to enable the mine to continue working. Origin Although all water that enters pit work ...

discharges have decreased since 1999. Heavy rain can cause pollutant levels to rise and the river suffers from tipping and urban litter. Several non-native species of plant are found along the river including

giant hogweed ''Heracleum mantegazzianum'', commonly known as giant hogweed, is a monocarpic perennial herbaceous plant in the carrot family Apiaceae. ''H. mantegazzianum'' is also known as cartwheel-flower, giant cow parsley, giant cow parsnip, or hogsb ...

Himalayan balsam ''Impatiens glandulifera'', Himalayan balsam, is a large annual plant native to the Himalayas. Via human introduction it is now present across much of the Northern Hemisphere and is considered an invasive species in many areas. Uprooting or cutt ...

and

Japanese knotweed ''Reynoutria japonica'', synonyms ''Fallopia japonica'' and ''Polygonum cuspidatum'', is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the knotweed and buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Common names include Japanese knotweed and Asian knotweed. It is ...

. Bistort, wild

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, nettles and

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

s are found in abundance in the meadows between the conurbations.

Leisure

The disused railway line adjacent to the riverbank is part of the Spen Valley Greenway (

National Cycle Route 66 National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 66 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Kingston upon Hull to Manchester via Beverley, York and Leeds. Between Pocklington and York it forms part of the Way of the Roses challenge route. In 1998 the sect ...

) from

to Oakenshaw near

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. The greenway is home to a collection of artworks, including ''A Flock of Swaledale Sheep'', constructed from recycled industrial scrap by Sally Matthews, and ''Rotate'' by Trudi Entwistle which comprises 40 giant steel hoops set in a circle.

Lists

Tributaries

* Finching Dike * Canker Dyke

Settlements

* Liversedge * Heckmondwike * Ravensthorpe

Crossings

* A643, Cleckheaton * Thornton Street, Cleckheaton * A638, Rawfolds Bridge, Cleckheaton * Cartwright Street, Cleckheaton * Primrose Lane, Cleckheaton * Radulf Gardens, Liversedge * Knowler Hill, Liversedge * Valley Road, Liversedge * A62, Liversedge * A649, Wakefiled Road, Liversedge * Wormald Street, Liversedge * Union Street, Liversedge * Beck Lane, Liversedge * Smithies Bridge, Station Lane, Liversedge * A644, Huddersfield Road, Ravensthorpe

Sources

Ordnance Survey Open Data https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-government/tools-support/open-data-support

References

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Spen Spen may refer to: *SPEN, human gene *Spen, West Yorkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Sow-Stao#Sp, location in England *River Spen, river in West Yorkshire, England, the United Kingdom *SS Spen, SS ''Spen'', British steamship built in 190 ...