The River Boyd is a river of some in length which rises near Dodington in

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is a tributary of the

Bristol Avon The River Avon is a river in the south west of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is a cognate of the Welsh word , meaning 'river'. The Avon ...

, running in a southerly direction and joining near

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in England, to the east of the Greater Bristol area on the River Boyd. It is in South Gloucestershire. The parish of Bitton has a population of 9,307, and apart from the villag ...

. The flow rate at Bitton is an average . It was immortalised in the 1613 poem by John Dennys of Pucklechurch ''

The Secrets of Angling ''The Secrets of Angling'' was a book written by John Dennys. It was the earliest English poetical treatise on fishing, first published in 1613 in London. A didactic pastoral poem in 3 books, in the style of Virgil's Georgics. It was published ...

'', the earliest English poetical tract on fishing:

And thou sweet Boyd that with thy watry sway
Dost wash the cliffes of Deington and of Weeke
And through their Rockes with crooked winding way
Thy mother Avon runnest soft to seeke
In whose fayre streames the speckled Trout doth play
The Roche the Dace the Gudgin and the Bleeke
Teach me the skill with slender Line and Hooke
To take each Fish of River Pond and Brooke.

In common with other rivers of the area,

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

s were used for various industrial undertakings, most notably the Wick Golden Valley Ochre Works. The former works site is now a local nature reserve and the river and valley form part of a

Site of Nature Conservation Interest Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

Course

The Boyd rises from springs near Sands Farm, just south of Dodington Chase. Several small tributaries join on the right from springs issuing from a ridge of high land to the north. The river then passes underneath the M4 motorway, being joined by further streams from the direction of Codrington. Just before Doynton tributaries emanating from

Dyrham Dyrham is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England. Location and communications Dyrham is at lat. 51° 29' north, long. 2° 22' west (). It lies at an altitude of 100 metres above sea level. It is near the A46 trunk road, about ...

join on the left bank. The Feltham Brook joins on the right bank, from the direction of

Pucklechurch Pucklechurch is a large village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It has a current population of about 3000. The village dates back over a thousand years and was once the site of a royal hunting lodge, as it adjoined a large fo ...

, near Doynton House and the river then passes under Cleeve Bridge and enters the steep Golden Valley, where a nature reserve has been established. Passing under Boyd Bridge in

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

, the river turns in a southerly direction, running parallel to the

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Su ...

long distance footpath. Emerging from Golden Valley just north of

, the Boyd skirts the village and then meanders across river meadows before joining the

adjacent to the point where the Bristol and Bath Railway Path crosses the Avon.

History

Ochre, a mixture of clay and iron oxide was mined in Golden Valley near

and the Wick Golden Valley Ochre Works remained in business from the late nineteenth century until 1970. The spoil coloured the water a bright yellow, hence the name ''Golden Valley''. A reservoir and lake were constructed to supply watermills which crushed the mined material.

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and Millstone Grit were quarried locally and the coal measures that underlay the area were also worked. Water power was used for numerous mills, mostly for grinding corn, although some were for industrial works in the valley, including iron works and a paper mill. The course of the river was straightened and many dams and weirs were placed across it.

Natural history

Wick Golden Valley Local Nature Reserve forms part of a larger

(SNCI) known as "Wick Rocks and the River Boyd". Habitats include

calcareous grassland Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover. ...

with an alkaline soil type, broadleaved woodland, the river and associated riverbank vegetation. Species of plants include

Common Cow-wheat ''Melampyrum pratense'', the common cow-wheat, is a plant species in the family Orobanchaceae. The seed of the plant has an elaiosome, which is attractive to wood ants (''Formica'' spp.). The ants disperse the seeds of the plant when they tak ...

Bitter Vetch Bitter vetch is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Vicia ervilia'', called bitter vetch or ervil, an ancient grain legume crop of the Mediterranean region. *'' Vicia orobus'', called wood-bitter vetch, a legume found in Atlantic ...

Black Spleenwort ''Asplenium adiantum-nigrum'' is a common species of fern known by the common name black spleenwort. It is found mostly in Africa, Europe, and Eurasia, but is also native to a few locales in Mexico and the United States. Description This spleen ...

Harebell ''Campanula rotundifolia'', the harebell, Scottish bluebell, or bluebell of Scotland, is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. This herbaceous perennial is found throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemi ...

Nettle-leaved Bellflower ''Campanula trachelium'', the nettle-leaved bellflower, is a species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the la ...

, Bluebell and Viper's Bugloss. A micro-moth, '' Pammene trauniana'', can be found - also dippers, kingfishers, buzzards, otters, bats and damselflies.

Etymology

The name ''Boyd'' is believed to derive from a British Celtic root meaning "virtue, favour, blessing or benefit". It has been suggested that this implies the waters have a healing quality.

Hydrology

The Environment Agency maintains a Gauging Station at Bitton and records an average flow rate of . A peak rate of was recorded on 30 May 1979 and minimum of on 16 August 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, River Rivers of Gloucestershire Rivers of Bristol 1Boyd