River Dee
There are five rivers with the name Dee situated within the British Isles, one in Cumbria in England, one in the Republic of Ireland, one which flows between Wales and England and two in Scotland.
The name Dee comes from the Roman word Deva, which means goddess.
RIVER DEE, ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND
Scotland’s River Dee, Uisge De, is situated in north east Scotland and rises on the plateau of Braerioch, a four thousand foot high summit of the Cairngorm Mountains. The river starts life as several small pools and tiered waterfalls known as the Wells of Dee, before travelling for eighty seven miles towards it’s estuary at Aberdeen Harbour on the North Sea.
The river is renowned for having the highest elevated source in the United Kingdom and it’s drainage basin at Aberdeen Harbour is home to the largest marine centre in Europe which covers some eight hundred square miles.
The river has several tributaries including the Rivers Muick, Gairn and Lui, Quoich Waters and Coy, Clunie and Geldie Burns. The river is also the site of a small tiered waterfall near it’s confluence with the Geldie Burn, known as the Chest of Dee.
The river’s course passes through some of Scotland’s finest heathland and Caledonian pinewood forests, the Cairngorms National Park, the Cairngorms National Nature Reserve and the towns of Aboyne, Braemar, Banchory and Ballater and the City of Aberdeen. The river also encompasses the area of Strathdee, also known as Royal Deeside, which is situated between Ballater and Braemar, so named as it is home to nearby Balmoral Castle.
The river has exceptional stocks of salmon and is also renowned for it’s large pools of rapids, making it popular with both fly fishers and canoeists.
The river is spanned by several bridges including the Victoria Bridge at Torry, The King George VI Bridge which carries the B9077 road, The Queen Elisabeth II Bridge in Aberdeen, the Maryculter Bridge situated in the town of the same name and the multi arched Bridge of Dee on the outskirts of Aberdeen, built in 1527 with golden coloured, Elgin sandstone.
Another unusual bridge is the St Devenick’s suspension, footbridge situated in an Aberdeen suburb, which was built in 1837.
RIVER DEE, CUMBRIA, ENGLAND
Images courtesy of Eamon Curry - www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1655497
The River Dee in Cumbria is a tributary of the River Lune which starts life at Dent Head situated along the Dales Way National Trail. The river travels in a northerly direction for about ten miles through the area known as Dentdale, where it goes on to join the River Rawthey at Catholes, near Sedbergh.
All of the river's course takes in the green, rolling countryside of the Cumbrian Dales as it passes through the villages of Cowgill, Dent, Gawthrop and Stonehouse.
Some of the old, stone bridges that span the river are the Abbot Holme Bridge at Sedbergh, Bridge End at Stonehouse, Church Bridge at Dentdale and Tommy's Bridge. There is also a small, stone footbridge situated at Cowgill.
The river also has a small, tiered waterfall situated just outside Sedbergh.
The area along the course of the river is popular with ramblers and hikers. The river is little used by fishermen, despite evidence of trout in it's waters, owing to it's inaccessibility for fly fishing.
RIVER DEE, DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY, SCOTLAND
Scotland’s other River Dee, also known the Dee / Ken System, is situated in the south west of the country in Dumfries and Galloway, where it rises on Loch Dee in the Galloway Mountains and travels for thirty eight miles as it makes it’s way through Clatteringshaws Loch, Loch Ken and the Water of Ken, before entering the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea at Kirkcudbright Harbour.
The river passes through the towns of Bridge of Dee, Crossmichael, Glenlocher, Kelton, Kirkcudbright, Parton and Tongland.
Thomas Telford built a stone, single arch bridge at Tongland in 1806, shown above, and the river was also dammed at Tongland during the 1930’s to form part of a hydro – electric plant.
There is also an interesting four arched bridge at Kelton which was built from rubble masonry during the early 1800’s.
The river is renowned for being home to the ruins of Threave Castle, a twelth century, stone walled tower and keep, built on an island in the river, near the town of Castle Douglas.
The river has several small tributaries including Tarff Water, the Water of Ken, the Water of Deugh and Shirmer’s Burn. The waters of the River Dee and it's tributaries are renowned for their large population of salmon and sea trout, making the area along the course of the river popular with fishermen as well as ramblers and hikers.
RIVER DEE, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
The River Dee in Ireland is a thirty mile long tributary of the River Glyde.
The river's source is located at Bailieboro in County Cavan, it then flows in a north easterly direction until it joins with the thirty five mile long, River Glyde, at the small harbour town of Annagassan in County Louth, where the two rivers go on to flow into the thirty three square mile, Dundalk Bay on Ireland's east coast, along with the River Fane and the Castletown River.
In County Meath the River Dee passes through the town of Nobber, before flowing into Whitewood Lake and then passing through the small town of Kilmainhamwood. The river then goes on to flow through the County Louth towns of Ardee, famous for it's sixteenth century, St Ledger's Castle, which is the largest fortified, medieval tower house in the country, and the coastal town of Annagassan.
The River Dee has three tributaries, the River Killary, the Gara River and the White River, all of which are known to have stocks of Brown Trout, Sea Trout and Atlantic Salmon.
RIVER DEE, WALES / ENGLAND
Image courtesy of AKKE, wikimedia commons
The River Dee in Wales - Afon Dyfrdwy - is a sixty eight mile long river which starts life at Llanuwchllyn in Snowdonia. The river travels in a south easterly direction making it's way across the border into England, before changing course to a northerly direction out towards it's estuary, situated between North Wales and The Wirral Peninsula in England, where it drains into Liverpool Bay on the Irish Sea.
The river's course takes it through the Welsh towns of Berwyn, Corwen, Llangollen and Wrexham and the English towns of Connah's Quay and Farndon and the English City of Chester.
At Wrexham the river sets a natural border between the two countries and at Connah’s Quay the river becomes tidal for it’s last sixteen miles.
The river feeds several lakes and resevoirs along it's course, including Bala Lake, just ten miles from it's source, Llyn Brenig, Llyn Celyn and the Tegid Resevoir.
The river has several tributaries including the Rivers Afon Alun, Afon Alwen, Afon Ceiriog, Afon Clywedog, Afon Meloch, Afon Mynach, Afon Tryweryn and the Wych Brook.
The Dee is spanned by hundreds of bridges, with the two oldest being the Llangollen Bridge in the town of the same name built in 1345 and the Old Dee Bridge in Chester, originally built around 1387.
Other interesting bridges include the rivers newest bridge, the Flintshire Bridge, an impressive, cable stayed bridge built in 1999 at Connah’s Quay, which carries part of the A548 road, the Chain Rail Bridge at Berwyn built in 1814, a medieval sandstone bridge at Farndon and Britain’s largest aqueduct, the Grade I listed, UNESCO World Heritage Site of Pontecysyllte Aqueduct, pictured below, which carries the Lllangollen Canal over the River Dee near Wrexham. The eighteen arch aqueduct was opened in 1805 and was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop. The brick and cast iron structure is one thousand and seven feet long and one hundred and twenty six feet tall.
Other interesting features of the river include the man made Horseshoe Falls at Llantysilio, constructed in 1808 by Thomas Telford, which are four hundred and sixty feet wide and link the river with the Llangollen Canal, and the Grade I listed Chester Weir, pictured above, originally constructed in 1093 in order to power local corn mills.
The river is renowned for being one of the country’s premier fishing locations for catching Atlantic Salmon as well as sea trout, lamprey, freshwater pearl mussels and grayling.
West of Chester the river was canalised during the 1700’s in order to alleviate the river’s natural heavy build up of silt. The five mile long channel diverted the course of the river out towards it’s estuary by setting the river on a more northerly course.
The River Dee’s estuary is situated between the North Wales coast and the Wirral Peninsular coast and covers an area of some fifty square miles. The Dee Estuary consists of extensive mudflats and salt marshes and was formed thousands of years ago by glacial erosion.The estuary waters are a haven for wading birds and Atlantic grey seals, resulting in the area being designated as both an SSI - Site of Special Scientific Interest and an SPA – Special Protected Area.
The estuary also forms part of Britain's first country park, The Wirral Country Park, which opened in 1973, which also incorporates an estuarine nature reserve and the thirteen mile long, Wirral Way, walking path.
The waters of the estuary also contain three uninhabited islands, the largest of which is Hilbre Island, which is an eleven square acre, nature reserve, which can be accessed at low tide.
Places of interest on the estuary's Welsh side are the town of Flint, the ruins of the thirteenth century, Flint Castle, the small Port of Mostyn and the sand dunes and lighthouse at Talacre Beach.
Small towns and places of interest on the estuary's English side are the towns and villages of Neston, Parkgate, Heswall, Thurstaston, Caldy and West Kirby and part of the Royal Liverpool Golf Club's links course at Hoylake.
There are five lighthouses located along the Dee Estuary, one at Hilbre Island and Talacre Beach in Wales, both of which are fully functioning, two at Hoylake, both of which have been incorporated into local dwellings and one at Leasowe, which is the oldest surviving, brick built light house in the country.
SOME RIVER DEE WEBSITES
Visit Chester
Leasowe Lighthouse
The Dee Estuary
The Dee Valley
Dee Valley Tour
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