River Great Ouse

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River Great Ouse
The River Great Ouse after Brownshill Staunch, near Over
Origin	near Syresham in Northamptonshire
Mouth	King's Lynn
Basin countries	England
Length	240 km (150 miles)
Source elevation	115 m (380 feet)

The River Great Ouse (pronounced /uːz/) is a river in the east of England. It is 150 miles (240 km) long which makes it the major navigation in East Anglia, and the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The name Ouse is from the Celtic or pre-Celtic *Udso-s,^[1] and probably means simply "water".^[2] The lower reaches of the Great Ouse are also known as "Old West River" and "the Ely Ouse", but all the river is often referred to simply as the Ouse in informal usage (the word "Great", which originally meant simply big, or in the case of a river long, is used to distinguish this river from several others called the Ouse).

The river has several sources close to the villages of Syresham and Sulgrave in Northamptonshire. It flows through Brackley, Buckingham, Milton Keynes at Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Olney, Kempston, Bedford, St Neots, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Hemingford Grey, St Ives, the cathedral city of Ely, Littleport, Downham Market and enters The Wash at King's Lynn.

The river is navigable from the Wash to Kempston Mill, which is just beyond Bedford, a distance of 116 kilometres (72 mi). This section includes 17 locks, which are maintained by the Environment Agency, who are the navigation authority^[3] and who attempt to attract more boaters to the river.

The Ouse Washes are an internationally important area for wildlife. They consist of washland, which is used as pasture during the summer but which floods in the winter, and are the largest area of such land in the United Kingdom. They act as breeding grounds for lapwings, redshanks and snipe in spring, and are home to varieties of ducks and swans during the winter months.^[4]

[edit] Tributaries

The Great Ouse at King's Lynn

The Great Ouse at St Neots

The Great Ouse near Little Paxton.

Tributaries of the River Great Ouse: (upstream [source] to downstream by confluence)

• River Tove
• River Ouzel (or Lovat)
• River Ivel
• River Kym
• River Cam
• Soham Lode
• River Lark
• River Little Ouse
• River Wissey
• Old Bedford River
• New Bedford River (also known as Hundred Foot Drain)
• River Babingley
• Gaywood River

[edit] Rowing

In 1944 the annual boat race between the Oxford and Cambridge universities took place on this river, between Littleport and Queen Adelaide, the only time that it has not been held on the Thames; it was won by Oxford.^[5] The Great Ouse is used by three clubs from Cambridge University for the training of rowers, with the Boat Club (CUBC), ^[6] the Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) ^[7] and the Lightweight Rowing Club (CULRC), all using facilities at Ely. Rowing is popular in several of the towns on the Ouse, especially Bedford, which is one of the most active rowing centres in the UK.

[edit] See also

UK Waterways portal

• The Ouse Valley Way (Long distance footpath along the Ouse)
• RSPB Ouse Washes (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve)
• WWT Welney (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve)
• Rivers of the United Kingdom
• The Boat Race
• Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Media related to Great Ouse at Wikimedia Commons
• Useful information on the river from Jim Shead
• Drainage and Rivers of Fens

v • d • e Rivers and Watercourses of Buckinghamshire Alder Bourne • Bearbrook • Chess • Chicheley Brook • Claydon Brook • Colne • Colne Brook • Cuttle Brook • Dad Brook • Gade • Great Ouse • Jubilee • Lyde • Misbourne • Ouzel • Padbury Brook • Ray • Thame • Thames • Thistle Brook • Tove • Whistle Brook • Wye

v • d • e Rivers and Watercourse of Norfolk River Ainse (or Eyn) • River Ant • River Babingley • Beeston Beck • River Bure • River Burn • River Chet • River Cong • River Gadder • Gaywood River • River Glaven • River Great Ouse • Gur Beck • Hagon Beck • River Heacham • River Hor • River Hun • River Ingol • River Little Ouse • River Mun • River Nar • River Nene • North Walsham & Dilham Canal • Panford Beck • Penny Spot Beck • Scarrow Beck • Spring Beck • River Stiffkey • River Tas • River Tat • River Thet • River Thurne • River Tiffey • River Tud • River Waveney • River Wensum • Wisbech Canal • River Wissey • River Yare •

v • d • e Rivers and Watercourses of Northamptonshire River Avon • River Cherwell • River Great Ouse • Harpers Brook • River Ise • River Nene • Rains Brook • River Tove • Willow Brook • Wooton Brook

Coordinates: 52°19′36″N 0°00′02″E / 52.32653°N 0.00069°E / 52.32653; 0.00069