The River Kyle is a small river in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

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 ...

. At just under long, it is one of the shortest classified main rivers in the country.

Course

The river is first called Kyle after the confluence of Carle Beck and Derrings Beck. From the confluence it flows south-east of the village of

Tholthorpe Tholthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately south-west of Easingwold and north-west of York. History The village is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'' as "Turu ...

, near

Easingwold Easingwold is a market town, electoral ward and civil parish in the Hambleton District in North Yorkshire, England. Historically, part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 4,233 at the 2001 census, increasing to 4,627 at ...

, past Flawith, Alne and Tollerton. At Linton-on-Ouse it turns south and joins the River Ouse just north of Newton-on-Ouse. From source to mouth, the river extends to just in length. The Kyle is noted for its recurrent problems with pollution caused by agricultural effluent. In 1978, the water from the river became polluted after a barn fire had been extinguished and the water used to douse the fire had found its way into the River Kyle. Some of the pollution was a paraquat based weedkiller which is lethal in high concentrations and for which there is no antidote. As the City of York took its water supply from the River Ouse, they had to close their river intakes for two weeks to allow the polluted water to be flushed downriver.

History

The river previously formed the boundary of the

Forest of Galtres The royal Forest of Galtres was established by the Norman kings of England in North Yorkshire, to the north of the Ancient City of York, extending right to its very walls. The main settlement within the royal forest was the market village of ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

operated an airfield near the start of the River Kyle at RAF Tholthorpe. Both the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environ ...

flew from this base until its closure in 1945. The river also passes close to the current airfield at

RAF Linton-on-Ouse RAF Linton-on-Ouse was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, England, north-west of York. It had satellite stations at RAF Topcliffe and Dishforth Airfield (British Army). The station opened in 1937. With t ...

, which was originally opened in 1937 as part of

Etymology

The name of the river derives from the Brittonic ''*cǖl'', meaning "narrow" (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

Cornish Cornish is the adjective and demonym associated with Cornwall, the most southwesterly part of the United Kingdom. It may refer to: * Cornish language, a Brittonic Southwestern Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Cornwa ...

and Breton ''cul''). The place-name ''Alne'' possibly preserves an earlier alternative name for the river.

Leisure

There are two Ordnance Survey Leisure Walking routes that cross the river near Tollerton.

Lists

Tributaries

* Whitecarr Ings Beck * New Parks Beck * Scawsykes Beck * Shorn Dike

Settlements

* Tholthorpe * Alne * Flawith * Tollerton * Linton-on-Ouse * Newton-on-Ouse

Crossings

* Alne Bridge, Alne * Carrholme Bridge, Near Tollerton * Linton Bridge, near Newton-on-Ouse

Gallery

File:River Kyle - geograph.org.uk - 1204471.jpg, River Kyle north of Linton-on-Ouse File:River Kyle at Tollerton - geograph.org.uk - 1205073.jpg, River Kyle at Tollerton File:From Carrholme bridge - geograph.org.uk - 381242.jpg, River Kyle from Carrholme Bridge

Sources

* Ordnance Survey Open Viewer https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-government/tools-support/open-data-support * Google Earth * National Environment Research Council - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology http://www.ceh.ac.uk/index.html * Environment Agency http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

References

Rivers of North Yorkshire {{England-river-stub