The River Lostock is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. The source of the Lostock is at the confluence of Slack Brook and Whave's Brook at the entrance to Miller Wood near Withnell Fold. Slack Brook drains an area around

Brindle Brindle is a coat (animal), coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cattle, guinea pigs, cats, and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger-striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger's co ...

, having its source close to Thorpe Green just outside the village, whereas Whave's Brook rises near Brimmicroft and runs southwards, almost parallel to the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

by Ollerton Fold. Whave's Brook is fed by Laund Brook, running northwards from close to

Withnell Withnell is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it had a population of 3,631, reducing to 3,498 at the census of 2011. Withnell is about north-east of Chorley itself and a ...

. The Lostock continues along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to Lower Copthurst, where it turns westwards, watering

Whittle-le-Woods Whittle-le-Woods (commonly shortened to Whittle) is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 5,434. Whittle-le-Woods lies on the A6, about three ...

before turning north by

Clayton-le-Woods Clayton-le-Woods (commonly shortened to Clayton) is a large village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it has a population of 14,528. At the 2011 census the population of Cuerde ...

, then running through the Cuerden Valley Park. Having been joined by Clayton Brook, draining the village of the same name to the east, the river moves westwards, skirting Lostock Hall, then flows south west, past

Farington Farington is a village and civil parish in the South Ribble local government district of Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 6,674. History The parish was part of Preston Rural District throughout ...

and through the western suburbs of the town of Leyland, collecting Mill Brook (from

Worden Park Worden Park is a large area of parkland situated on the outskirts of Leyland, Lancashire, Leyland, a town in the borough of South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is less than a quarter of a mile from the town centre. History Farington family ...

) and Hollin's Brook (draining Runshaw Moor), before moving west once again towards

Croston Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917. History Croston was founded in the 7th century whe ...

, where it collects Wymott Brook (emanating from close to Midge Hall) before joining the River Yarrow shortly afterwards.

Etymology

''Lostock'' could primarily be a settlement name (see Lostock Hall) and may, like other similar names in Lancashire, be derived from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''hlōse-'', meaning "a pig-sty", and ''-stoc'', "a place, secondary settlement". The name could also be a Brittonic

hydronym A hydronym (from , , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a subset of top ...

, derived from ''lost'', chiefly (perhaps metaphorically) meaning "a tail" ( Welsh ''llost''). This is suffixed with the nominal suffix ''-ǭg''. A derivative of the aforementioned ''lost'', ''*lostǭg'', perhaps meaning "a beaver" (though note Cornish ''lostek'', "fox") could also underlie the name.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...

s and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. The water quality of the River Lostock system was as follows in 2016. Reasons for the quality being less than good include sewage discharge, physical modification of the channel and poor nutrient management of agricultural land.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lostock Rivers of Chorley 1Lostock