The Aylesford Stream is a 5.4 kilometreThe Environment Agency
long

tributary 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 they ...

of the East Stour, itself a tributary of the

Great Stour Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. The

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

's source is north of the M20, between

Wye with Hinxhill Wye with Hinxhill is a hillside civil parish in the borough of Ashford northeast of Ashford, Kent itself, centred 3.7 miles (6.0 km) NNE of the town centre. The North Downs range of hills has a high escarpment on the east and west borders of t ...

and West Brabourne, and runs through

Willesborough Willesborough is a residential suburb, on the eastern side of Ashford, in the county of Kent, England. The area The South Willesborough Dykes area, on the west bank of the River East Stour, is an area of sheep fields drained by dykes. The are ...

and then between Newtown and South Willesborough to join the East Stour just west of

Ashford Designer Outlet The Ashford Designer Outlet is a shopping centre in Ashford, Kent, England. The McArthurGlen Ashford Designer Outlet was designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership and engineers Buro Happold, and opened in March 2000. There are over 120 desig ...

. The area along the stream forms part of a Local Nature Reserve, the

Ashford Green Corridor Ashford Green Corridor is a green space that runs through the town of Ashford, Kent, Ashford in Kent, England. The Green Corridor is made up of parks, recreation grounds and other green spaces alongside the rivers that flow through Ashford. It is ...

, with pollarded willows adjacent to ''Bentley Road'' in Willesborough. Part of the area is designated as the South Willesborough Dykes, 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 ...

(SNCI). The dykes continue on the east side of the East Stour and amongst the residential areas. When

High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), officially the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of the line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Euro ...

was built through Ashford, the stream was diverted to run alongside the railway line.Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996
/ref>

References

External links

{{authority control Rivers of Kent Borough of Ashford