The River Laver is a tributary of the River Skell, itself a tributary of the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England is approximately long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its r ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. The name is of

Brittonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

origin, from ''labaro'', meaning "talkative", i.e. a babbling brook. The

Afon Llafar : ''For the river which flows into Bala Lake see Afon Llafar (Dee)'' Afon Llafar is a river in the Carneddau, Snowdonia. It rises where many streams flow down the slopes of Yr Elen, Carnedd Llewelyn and Carnedd Dafydd to join together in the ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

shares the same name. The Laver is noted as a fly fishing river, especially for brown trout and grayling.

Course

The river has its origins in a number of small streams which rise on the moors between upper

Nidderdale Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park) in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows south underground and then ...

and

Kirkby Malzeard Kirkby Malzeard () is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. There has been a creamery in the village making Wensleydale cheese for almost 100 years, first owned by Mrs Mason, then Kit Calvert, of Hawes ...

. The two largest of these streams, North Gill Beck and South Gill Beck, meet in a narrow wooded valley at

Dallowgill Dallowgill (historically also Dallaghill) is a village in Harrogate district in North Yorkshire, England. It consists of a number of scattered settlements in the western part of the civil parish of Laverton. History Dallowgill takes its ...

to form the River Laver. The river continues to flow through a narrow wooded valley, before broadening at Laverton. The riverbanks again become densely wooded near Winksley, then become more open and shallow as the river approaches Ripon. The river joins the River Skell at the western edge of

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

Hydrology

The flow of the River Laver has been measured at a weir in Ripon, near to its confluence with the Skell since 1977. The thirty seven year record shows that the

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of to the

gauging station A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation (" stage") and/or vol ...

yields an average flow of . In June 2007 the highest river level of over the weir was recorded, which was estimated to have a flow of .

References

External links

{{authority control Laver