The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod licence is not required for

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...

. The river generates a large income for the local borders region, attracting anglers from all around the world.

Etymology

''Tweed'' may represent an Old Brittonic name meaning "border". A doubtful proposal is that the name is derived from a non-Celtic form of the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

root ''*teuha-'' meaning "swell, grow powerful".

Course

The River Tweed flows primarily through the scenic

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

region of Scotland. Eastwards from the settlements on opposing banks of

Birgham Birgham is a village in Berwickshire, parish of Eccles in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near Coldstream and the River Tweed, on the A698. Birgham is close to Ednam, Kelso, Lempitlaw, ...

and

Carham Carham or Carham on Tweed is a village in Northumberland, England. The village lies on the south side of the River Tweed about west of Coldstream. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, it is the place in England with greatest proportion o ...

it forms the historic boundary between Scotland and England. It rises in the Lowther Hills at Tweed's Well near to where the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

, draining northwest ( from the Tweed's Well), and the Annan draining south ( from the Tweed's Well) also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" is a saying from the Border region. East of Kelso, it becomes a section of the eastern part of the border. Entering England, its lower reaches are in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, where it enters the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Catchment

The river east of St Boswells runs through a

drumlin field A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated ...

. It is the relic of a paleo-

ice stream An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of a year, and can be up to in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length. They t ...

that flowed through the area during the last glaciation. Major towns through which the Tweed flows include

Innerleithen Innerleithen ( gd, Inbhir Leitheann) is a civil parish and a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders. It was formerly in the historic county of Peeblesshire or Tweeddale. Etymology The name "Innerleithen" comes f ...

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

, Melrose, Kelso,

Coldstream Coldstream ( gd, An Sruthan Fuar , sco, Caustrim) is a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream is the home of the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army. Description Coldstream l ...

and Berwick-upon-Tweed, where it flows into the

. Tweed

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainag ...

include: *

Whiteadder Water Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside ...

** Blackadder Water * River Till * Eden Water * Teviot Water *

Leader Water The River Leader, or Leader Water, is a small tributary of the River Tweed in Lauderdale in the Scottish Borders. It flows southwards from the Lammermuir Hills through the towns of Lauder and Earlston, joining the River Tweed at Leaderfoot. Cou ...

Gala Water The Gala Water ( Lowland Scots: Gala Watter; Scottish Gaelic An Geal Ath) is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland and a tributary of the River Tweed. It is sometimes known as the "Gala", which nickname is also shared with Galashiels, ...

Leithen Water Leithen Water ( gd, Leitheann / Abhainn Leitheinn) is a tributary of the River Tweed in Scotland. It rises in the Moorfoot Hills and joins the Tweed near the town of Innerleithen, whose name comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''inbhir'', meaning a ...

* Quair Water *

Eddleston Water Eddleston Water is a small river north of Peebles, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland which joins the River Tweed at Peebles. It is also known locally as "The Cuddy". Eddleston Water rises near Mount Lothian and passes through Waterheads, ...

Manor Water Manor Water is a river in the parish of Manor, Peeblesshire in the Scottish Borders. It rises in the Ettrick Forest and flows down through the Maynor valley, passing the various farms and hamlets of Maynor as well as Kirkton Manynor, where the M ...

* Lyne Water * Holms Water The upper parts of the catchment of the Tweed in Scotland form the area known as Tweeddale, part of which is protected as the Upper Tweeddale National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.

Management

Despite that the catchment straddles the border between Scotland and England, management of it- in terms of water quality, bio-security, and ultimately protection of the salmon of the River Tweed- is overseen by a single body, the River Tweed Commission.

Gallery

Wfm tweed abottsford.jpg, The River Tweed at Abbotsford, near Melrose River Tweed from Mertoun House.jpg, The River Tweed from Mertoun House, near St Boswells Anglo-Scottish.border.history.jpg, The Anglo-Scottish border, with the Tweed on the east. Its estuary and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed were a late annexation by England. Union Chain Bridge between England and Scotland, 2019.jpg, The Union Chain Bridge spanning the Tweed between Horncliffe, England and

Fishwick Fishwick is a surname. It is from multiple locations in England, but predominantly from a place now in Preston, Lancashire; other origins are Fishwick in Kingsteignton, Devon, and possibly Fisherwick in Staffordshire. It may also derive from Fishwi ...

, Scotland

Notes

External links

British Waterways: River TweedThe River Tweed Commission websiteThe Tweed FoundationTweed Forum websiteRiver Tweed: Special Area of Conservation (SAC)SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency): River Level DataPaper describing palaeo-icestream and landforms in the Tweed Valley
* Map and aerial photo sources for and
Open Canoe Hire Specialists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweed, River Rivers of Northumberland

Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

Anglo-Scottish border Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Annandale and Eskdale Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berwickshire and Roxburgh Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Mid and East Lothian Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Tweeddale and Ettrick and Lauderdale