Meadow
A meadow is a open habitat, or field, vegetated by grass and other non-woody plants. They attract a multitude of wildlife and support flora and fauna that could not thrive in other conditions, they provide areas for courtship displays, food gathering, pollinating insects, sometimes sheltering, if the vegetation is high enough, making them ecologically important. There are multiple types of meadows, such as agricultural and perpetual, each important to the ecosystem. Meadows may be occurring or artificially created from cleared shrub or woodland. In agriculture, a meadow is grassland, not grazed by domestic livestock, but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to produce hay. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the term meadow is used in its original sense to mean a hay meadow, signifying grassland mown annually in the summer for making hay. Agricultural meadows are lowland or upland fields upon which hay or pasture grasses grow from self-sown or hand-sown seed. Traditional hay meadows are now in decline.
Ecologist Professor John Rodwell states that over the past century and Wales have lost about 97% of their hay meadows. Fewer than 15.000 hectares of lowland meadows remain in the UK and most sites are small and fragmented. 25% of the UK's meadows are found in Worcestershire, with Foster's Green Meadow managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust being a major site. A similar concept to the hay meadow is the pasture, which differs from the meadow in that it is grazed through the summer, rather than being allowed to grow out and periodically be cut for hay. A pasture can refer to any land used for grazing, in this wider sense the term refers not only to grass pasture, but to non-grassland habitats such as heathland and wood pasture; the term, grassland, is used to describe both hay meadows and grass pastures. The specific agricultural practices in relation to the meadow can take on various expressions; as mentioned, this could be hay production or providing food for grazing cattle and livestock but to give room for orchards or honey production.
A transitional meadow occurs when a field, farmland, or other cleared land is no longer cut or grazed and starts to display luxuriant growth, extending to the flowering and self-seeding of its grass and wild flower species. The condition is however only temporary, because the grasses become shaded out when scrub and woody plants become well-established, being the forerunners of the return to a wooded state. A transitional state can be artificially-maintained through a double-field system, in which cultivated soil and meadows are alternated for a period of 10 to 12 years each. In North America prior to European colonization, Algonquians and other Native Americans peoples cleared areas of forest to create transitional meadows where deer and game could find food and be hunted. For example, some of today's meadows originated thousands of years ago, due to regular burnings by Native Americans. A perpetual meadow called a natural meadow, is one in which environmental factors, such as climatic and soil conditions, are favorable to perennial grasses and restrict the growth of woody plants indefinitely.
Types of perpetual meadows may include: Alpine meadows occur at high elevations above the tree line and maintained by harsh climatic conditions. Coastal meadows maintained by salt sprays. Desert meadows restricted by low lack of nutrients and humus. Prairies maintained by periods of severe subject to wildfires. Wet meadows saturated with water throughout much of the year. Artificially or culturally conceived meadows emerge from and continually require human intervention to persist and flourish. In many places, the natural, pristine populations of free roaming large grazers are either extinct or limited due to human activities; this reduces or removes their natural influence on the surrounding ecology and results in meadows only being created or maintained by human intervention. Existing meadows could and decline, if unmaintained by agricultural practices, but a reintroduction of large grazers could influence meadows to reappear as natural habitats in the landscape. Mankind has influenced the ecology and the landscape for millennia in many parts of the world, so it can sometimes be difficult to discern what is natural and what is cultural.
Meadows are one example. As extensive farming like grazing is diminishing in some parts of the world, the meadow is endangered as a habitat; some scientific projects are therefore experimenting with reintroduction of natural grazers. This includes deer, goat, wild horse, etc. depending on the location. A more exotic example with a wider scope, is the European Tauros Programme; some environmental organization recommend to convert Lawns to meadows by stopping or reducing mowing. They claim that meadows can better preserve biodiversity, reduce the use of fertilizers. For example, in 2018 environmental organizations with the support of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs of England, concerned by the decline in the numbre of Bees worldwide, in the first day of Bees' Needs Week 2018 give some recommendation how preserve bees; the recommendations include 1) growing flowers and trees, 2) letting the garden grow wild, 3) cutting grass less 4) leaving insect nest and hibernation spots alone, 5) using careful consideration with pesticides.
Foundation for Restoring European Ecosystems UK Wild Meadows Website Irish Wild Meadows Website Meadow Planting A Year in a Meadow Grow a Back Yard Meadow Adrian Higgins, "Today, 32,000 Seedlings.
Seven Dials, London
Seven Dials is a road junction in the neighborhood Covent Garden in the London Borough of Camden, West End of London where seven streets converge. At the centre of the circular space is a column bearing six sundials, a result of the column being commissioned before a late-stage alteration of the plans from an original six roads to seven; the term refers informally to the area surrounding. The landed estate formally belonged to the Worshipful Company of Mercers which allowed building licences on what was open farmland to maximise their income in what was the burgeoning West End of the developing metropolitan area; the original layout of the Seven Dials area was designed by Thomas Neale during the early 1690s. The original plan had six roads converging, although this was increased to seven; the sundial column was built with only six faces, with the column itself acting as the gnomon of the seventh dial. This layout was chosen to produce triangular plots, in order to maximise the frontage of houses to be built on the site, as rentals were charged per foot of frontage rather than by the square footage of properties.
After the successful development of the Covent Garden Piazza area nearby, Neale hoped that Seven Dials would be popular with wealthy residents. This was not to be and the area deteriorated. At one stage, each of the seven apexes facing the column housed a pub. By the 19th century, Seven Dials was among the most notorious slums in London, as part of the slum of St Giles; the area was described by Charles Dickens during 1835:... streets and courts dart in all directions, until they are lost in the unwholesome vapour which hangs over the house-tops and renders the dirty perspective uncertain and confined. In his collection Sketches by Boz, Dickens remarks, The stranger who finds himself in the Dials for the first time...at the entrance of Seven obscure passages, uncertain which to take, will see enough around him to keep his curiosity awake for no inconsiderable time... The poet John Keats described the area as the last resort for the poor and the ill.... Where misery clings to misery for a little warmth, want and disease lie down side-by-side, groan together.
The low status of the location is stated by W. S. Gilbert in the operetta Iolanthe It remained a byword for urban poverty during the early 20th century, when Agatha Christie set The Seven Dials Mystery there; the original sundial column was removed during 1773. It was long believed that it had been pulled down by an angry mob, but recent research suggests it was deliberately removed by the Paving Commissioners in an attempt to rid the area of "undesirables"; the remains were acquired by architect James Paine, who kept them at his house in Addlestone, from where they were bought during 1820 by public subscription and re-erected in nearby Weybridge as a memorial to Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia, Duchess of York and Albany. During the 1840s Seven Dials was a major gathering area for the Chartists in their campaign for electoral reform. However, the intended uprisings there were thwarted by police infiltrators. By 1851 sewers were laid in the area but poverty intensified in St Giles and in the Seven Dials although the population began to decrease as workshops and breweries began occupying some of the houses.
According to Camden Council, the defined area "... can be found to the north west of Covent Garden Market, just to the south of Shaftesbury Avenue. The Dials comprise Monmouth Street, Mercer Street and Shorts Gardens; the area now known as Seven Dials includes Neal Street and Neals Yard." Monmouth Street is the only street in Seven Dials to have an official number. The others are unclassified. During 1974, Seven Dials was named a Conservation Area with Outstanding Status and during 1977 it was declared a Housing Action Area. By 1984, the Housing Action Area Committee ensured that all of the vacant homes were in some use and was encouraging business to locate in the area. An increasing number of buildings have been restored over the years. Since 1974, over 25 percent of the area's buildings have been listed. Presently Seven Dials is a prosperous commercial neighbourhood in the WC2 postcode area between the West End theatre district of Shaftesbury Avenue and the fashionable shopping district around nearby Neal's Yard.
It is dominated by slow-moving traffic in the narrow streets, which are crowded with people. The replacement sundial pillar, commissioned by The Seven Dials Trust, was constructed during 1988–89 to the original design, it was unveiled by Beatrix of the Netherlands during June 1989, on a visit to commemorate the tercentenary of the reign of William III and Mary II, during which the area was developed. The monument is owned by, continues to be maintained by, The Seven Dials Trust whose mandate includes improving the area, working with landowners as well as national and local agencies. By late 2017, investment company Shaftesbury plc owned an increasing number of the buildings, a "huge chunk" of the area, according to one news report. At that time, significant changes were occurring in the business properties including the conversion of a mall owned by Shaftsbury plc, Thomas Neal’s Warehouse, into a single store that might become the main store for a major retailer and the conversion of a warehouse into office space.
On one of the seven apexes remains a pub, The Crown. On another apex is the Cambridge Theatre, on a third the Radisson Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel. On another is the Comyn Ching Triangle, a block of old buildings renovated during the 1980s. Despite some redevelopment, many original buildings remain. There are two historic plaques in the area, one at 13 Monmouth Street, where Bri
St George's Hill
St George's Hill is a 964-acre private estate in Weybridge, United Kingdom. The estate has golf and tennis clubs, as well as 420 houses. Land ownership is divided between homes with gardens, belonging to home owners, the estate roads and verges belonging to its residents' association; the hill first served as a home and leisure location to celebrities and successful entrepreneurs on its division into lots in the 1910s and 1920s when Walter George Tarrant built its first homes. In a 2007 survey, most roads in the estate showed an average house sale price of over £3,000,000 in the previous 12 months. In April 1649, common land on the hill was occupied by a movement known as the Diggers, who began to farm there; the Diggers are regarded as one of the world's first small-scale experiments in socialism and/or communism. The Diggers left the hill following a court case five months later; the occupation has been commemorated by The Land is Ours group, which camped at the summit of the hill in 1995 and 1999.
Local builder Walter George Tarrant created many of the houses on the estate. Each house is required by local laws to have at least 1-acre of land, houses are restricted to a maximum of 20 per cent of the plot; the Neo-Georgian Hamstone House and its entrance lodge and garages, Long Wall and Crow Clump, The Corbies and Yaffle Hill on St George's Hill are each listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England. The hill is the lowest in Surrey to be listed by the national database of hills of Britain and Ireland, which records claims for all Munros and all other popularly used categories, ranking 36th and as a >50 tump. The easterly peak is the highest point of the three boroughs in the north-west corner of Surrey and has the highest summit to be private, a higher semi-private Surrey summit being a shallower rise in rough woodland at Ribs Down, Windlesham; the summit is 255 feet above mean sea level and the minimum descent is 174 feet. This is to the south at a main road and school separating Chatley Heath in Wisley and Painshill Park, Cobham.
With its broad summit this minimum prominence results in views of Surrey varying from one observation point to another — the uppermost storey of houses or natural clearings viewed along the estate roads. The estate roads consists of tall, neat hedges, mature trees, tended grass verges and roads laid with tarmac as pictured; the nearest railway is the South West Main Line and nearest motorway is the M25 motorway, both more than 165 feet below the summit and centred 0.9–1.6 miles from its centre respectively. The golf club was designed in 1912 by Harry Colt with the clubhouse being built in the early 1920s; the tennis club has 15 artificial grass tennis courts, 15 grass and 2 indoor tennis courts, 4 squash courts, air-conditioned studio, 20m swimming pool and sauna, bar and restaurants and beauty spa. The local political party is the St George's Hill Independents who are an independent political party. Ringo Starr - Beatles drummer Alexander Perepilichny, poisoned Russian businessman and whistleblower Mian Muhammad Mansha - Forbes listed and the richest man in Pakistan.
There are other estates in Elmbridge: Burwood Park Ashley Park
England
England is a country, part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to Scotland to the north-northwest; the Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south; the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century, since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world; the English language, the Anglican Church, English law – the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world – developed in England, the country's parliamentary system of government has been adopted by other nations.
The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's terrain is chiefly low hills and plains in central and southern England. However, there is upland and mountainous terrain in the west; the capital is London, which has the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. England's population of over 55 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom concentrated around London, the South East, conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century; the Kingdom of England – which after 1535 included Wales – ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The name "England" is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means "land of the Angles"; the Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages. The Angles came from the Anglia peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea; the earliest recorded use of the term, as "Engla londe", is in the late-ninth-century translation into Old English of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The term was used in a different sense to the modern one, meaning "the land inhabited by the English", it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was part of the English kingdom of Northumbria; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its modern spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, in which the Latin word Anglii is used; the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars. How and why a term derived from the name of a tribe, less significant than others, such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country and its people is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons to distinguish them from continental Saxons of Old Saxony between the Weser and Eider rivers in Northern Germany. In Scottish Gaelic, another language which developed on the island of Great Britain, the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England. An alternative name for England is Albion; the name Albion referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus the 4th-century BC De Mundo: "Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean that flows round the earth.
In it are two large islands called Britannia. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, i.e. it was written in the Graeco-Roman period or afterwards. The word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins, it either derives from a cognate of the Latin albus meaning white, a reference to the white cliffs of Dover or from the phrase the "island of the Albiones" in the now lost Massaliote Periplus, attested through Avienus' Ora Maritima to which the former served as a source. Albion is now applied to England in a more poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend; the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximate
Brooklands
Brooklands was a 2.75-mile motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, which became Britain's largest aircraft manufacturing centre by 1918, producing military aircraft such as the Wellington and civil airliners like the Viscount and VC-10; the circuit hosted its last race in August 1939 and today part of it forms the Brooklands Museum, a major aviation and motoring museum, as well as a venue for vintage car and other transport-related events. The Brooklands motor circuit was the brainchild of Hugh F. Locke King, was the first purpose-built banked motor race circuit in the world. Following the Motor Car Act 1903, Britain was subject to a blanket 20 mph speed limit on public roads: at a time when nearly 50% of the world's new cars were produced in France, there was concern that Britain's infant auto-industry would be hampered by the inability to undertake sustained high-speed testing.
King commissioned Colonel Capel Lofft Holden of the Royal Artillery to design the projected circuit and work began in 1906. Requirements of speed and spectator visibility led to the Brooklands track being built as a 100 ft wide, 2.75 miles long, banked oval. The banking was nearly 30 feet high in places. In addition to the oval, a bisecting "Finishing Straight" was built, increasing the track length to 3.25 miles, of which 1.25 miles was banked. It could host up to 287,000 spectators in its heyday. Owing to the complications of laying tarmacadam on banking, the expense of laying asphalt, the track was built in uncoated concrete; this led in years to a somewhat bumpy ride, as the surface suffered differential settlement over time. Along the centre of the track ran a dotted black line, known as the Fifty Foot Line. By driving over the line, a driver could theoretically take the banked corners without having to use the steering wheel; the track was opened on 17 June 1907 with a luncheon attended by most of Britain's motor manufacturers, followed by an informal inauguration of the track by a procession of 43 cars, one driven by Charles Rolls.
The first competitive event was held on 28–29 June, with three cars competing to break the world record for distance covered in 24 hours, the first race meeting was held on 6 July, attracting over 10,000 spectators. Drawing inspiration from the development at Brooklands, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built soon afterwards, held its inaugural race in August 1909; the Brooklands Mountain Circuit was a small section of the track giving a lap 1¼ miles long, running from the Fork to the rear of Members' Hill and back. It was created in 1930 using movable barriers. On 28–29 June 1907, eleven days after the circuit opened, it played host to the world's first 24-hour motor event, with Selwyn Edge leading three specially converted Napier cars around the circuit. A statement of intent had been made in 1906, Selwyn Edge entered into a physical training program to prepare for the event, his car, "804" was extensively modified, having a special fuel tank, bodywork removed, a special windscreen. Over 300 red railway lamps were used to light the track during the night.
Flares were used to mark the upper boundary of the track. Edge drove his car for the full duration, with the drivers of the other two cars taking the more familiar shift approach. During the event Edge covered a distance of 1,581.74 mi at an average speed of 65.91 mph, comfortably beating the existing record of 1,096.187 mi set at Indianapolis in 1905. Women were not allowed to compete for several years. Dorothy Levitt, S. F. Edge's leading driver, was refused entry despite having been the'first English-woman to compete in a motor race' in 1903, holding the'Ladies World Land Speed Record'. Edge completed 2,545 km at a record which stood for 17 years; the first standard race meeting would be held the next week, on 6 July. George E. Stanley broke the one-hour record at Brooklands race track on a Singer motorcycle in 1912, becoming the first rider of a 350 cc motorcycle to cover over 60 miles in an hour; the world record for the first person to cover 100 miles in 1 hour was set by Percy E. Lambert at Brooklands, on 15 February 1913 when driving his 4.5 litre sidevalve Talbot.
He covered 103 miles, 1470 yards in 60 minutes. A contemporary film of his exploits on that day can be viewed at the Brooklands Museum. In July and August 1929, Violette Cordery and her younger sister Evelyn drove her 4.5 litre four-seater Invicta for 30,000 miles in less than 30,000 minutes, averaging 61.57 mph and earning her second Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club. Brooklands closed to motor racing during World War I, was requisitioned by the War Office and continued its pre-war role as a flying training centre although it was now under military control. Brooklands soon became a major location for the construction and supply of military aeroplanes. Motor racing resumed in 1920 after extensive track repairs and Grand Prix motor racing was established at Brooklands in 1926 by Henry Segrave, after his victories in the 1923 French Grand Prix and the San Sebastián Grand Prix the following year raised interest in the sport in Britain; this first British Grand Prix was won by Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal, sharing the drive in a Delage 155B.
The second British Grand Prix was staged there in 1927 and these two events resulted in improve
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status; the NHS commissions most emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other emergency services, the public access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. In addition to ambulance services provided by NHS organisations, there are some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, as part of community provision of services such as community first responders. Air ambulance services in the UK are not part of the NHS and are funded through charitable donations.
Paramedics are seconded from a local NHS ambulance service, with the exception of Great North Air Ambulance Service who employ their own paramedics. Doctors are provided by their home hospital and spend no more than 40% of their time with an air ambulance service. Public ambulance services across the UK are required by law to respond to four types of requests for care, which are: Emergency calls Doctor's urgent admission requests High dependency and urgent inter-hospital transfers Major incidentsAmbulance trusts and services may undertake non-urgent patient transport services on a commercial arrangement with their local hospital trusts or health boards, or in some cases on directly funded government contracts, although these contracts are fulfilled by private and voluntary providers; the National Health Service Act 1946 gave county and borough councils a statutory responsibility to provide an emergency ambulance service, although they could contract a voluntary ambulance service to provide this, with many contracting the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance or another local provider.
The last St John Division, to be so contracted is reputed to have been at Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, where the two-bay ambulance garage can still be seen at the branch headquarters. The Regional Ambulance Officers’ Committee reported in 1979 that “There was considerable local variation in the quality of the service provided in relation to vehicles and equipment. Most Services were administered by Local Authorities through their Medical Officer of Health and his Ambulance Officer, a few were under the aegis of the Fire Service, whilst others relied upon agency methods for the provision of part or all of their services.” The 142 existing ambulance services were transferred by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 from local authority to central government control in 1974, consolidated into 53 services under regional or area health authorities. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England.
The June 2005 report "Taking healthcare to the Patient", authored by Peter Bradley, Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service, for the Department of Health led to the merging of the 31 trusts into 13 organisations in England, plus one organisation each in Wales and Northern Ireland. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, this has further reduced to 10 ambulance service trusts in England, plus the Isle of Wight which has its own provision. Following the passage of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, commissioning of the ambulance services in each area passed from central government control into the hands of regional clinical commissioning groups; the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary provider for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England, 1 each in the other three countries. In England there are now ten NHS ambulance trusts, as well as an ambulance service on the Isle of Wight, run directly by Isle of Wight NHS Trust, with boundaries following those of the former regional government offices.
The ten trusts are: East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust London Ambulance Service NHS Trust North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS TrustThe English ambulance trusts are represented by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, with the Scottish and Northern Irish providers all associate members. On the 14 November 2018 West Midlands Ambulance Service became the UK's first university-ambulance trust; the service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Scottish Ambulance Service is a Special Health Board that provides ambulance services throughout whole of Scotland, on behalf of the Health and Social Care Directorates of the Scottish Government.
Due to the remote nature of many areas of Scotland compared to the other Home Nations, the Scottish Ambulance Service has Britain's only publi
River Wey
The River Wey is a tributary of the River Thames in south east England and one of two major tributaries in Surrey. The name is of unknown meaning, it begins as two branches rising outside the county which join at Tilford between Guildford and Farnham. Once combined the flow is eastwards northwards via Godalming and Guildford to meet the Thames while in Surrey; the main sub-tributary is the Tillingbourne flowing from the western slopes of Leith Hill in Surrey westwards to a point just south of Guildford between the main village of Shalford and the hamlet of Peasmarsh. Downstream the river forms the backdrop to Newark Brooklands; the Wey has a total catchment area of 904 square kilometres, draining parts of Surrey and West Sussex. It is navigable from Godalming to its confluence with the Thames as part of the Wey and Godalming Navigations, a trade-minded 17th century canal; the river morphology and flow are well studied, with many places to take samples and record data. The Wey North branch rises in Alton in Hampshire and runs eastwards through Upper Froyle and Bentley, turning southeast at Farnham to Tilford.
This branch was the upper catchment of the Blackwater. When this branch was blocked at Farnham, the flow spilt over into areas such as Elstead; the Blackwater remains as a much shorter river to the north of Farnham, with a wind gap between it and the Wey. The Wey South branch commences in two shorter rivers leading from separate sources. One is at Blackdown, south of Haslemere, beside Gibbet Hill and the Devil's Punch Bowl, next to Hindhead village centre, runs through Liphook, Passfield, Standford and Frensham to Tilford; the other rises at Inval, below Gibbet Hill, Hindhead in the civil parish of Haslemere. This joins the Blackdown-source south branch west of Haslemere. Other smaller tributaries of the south branch are the River Slea. From Tilford the river runs through Elstead, Godalming, Peasmarsh/Shalford, Send, Old Woking, Byfleet, New Haw and forms the Addlestone/Weybridge border between Hamm Court and Whittets Ait respectively. From Godalming the river is intertwined with the Godalming Navigations.
It joins the River Thames between Hamm Court and Whittets Ait facing a weirstream of Shepperton Lock. The River Ock joins at Godalming, Cranleigh Waters and the River Tillingbourne at Shalford and the Hoe Stream at Woking; the 19.5 miles towpath of the lower section is open to pedestrians. During the seventeenth century the river was made navigable to Guildford and extended in the eighteenth century to Godalming; the Basingstoke Canal and Wey and Arun Junction Canal were connected to the river. The navigable sections are now owned by the National Trust; the river has long been used as a source of power for mills, many are recorded in the Domesday Book. At one point there were 22 mills on the river, more on its tributaries. At various times they have been used for grinding grain, fulling wool, rolling oats, crushing cattle cake, leather dressing, paper production and gunpowder manufacture. Willey Mill, at Farnham, was still in use in 1953. Guildford Town Mill, though no long used for milling, still harnesses the power of the river to generate electricity.
Wey Valley is a term for the narrowing basin of the River Wey before it empties into the River Thames. Much of the upper reaches of the river are within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; the river passes through a variety of habitats including heathland and watermeadow, resulting in a diversity of wildlife. There are Sites of Special Scientific Nature Reserves along the river; the area of the aquifers which drain steeply to the river is great so, as with the Mole, in its natural state much of the flood plains were prone to regular flooding. This has been reduced by flood alleviation, upstream lakes such as Frensham Great Pond and, the Wey Navigation. Urban lowest parts of Godalming and Weybridge saw extensive flooding in the exceptional Winter storms of 2013–14. Aside from the River Thames, which does not belong to any one county, the river is one of the two main Surrey rivers, alongside the Mole; until its incorporation into London in 1965, next in order of size was the River Wandle.
Follow the River Bourne and the River Bourne, Chertsey which merge. They have sources in Berkshire. Surrey's Epsom area is drained by the Hogsmill River, most of, in outer London. Inland Waterways Association The River Wey and Godalming Navigation: Weybridge to Godalming Inland Waterways Association 1976 Tributaries of the River Thames Canals of the United Kingdom List of rivers of England Perseverance IV, last floating River Wey barge. Notes References River Wey and Godalming Navigations and Dapdune Wharf River Wey Catchment Flood Warnings
