River Boyd
Encyclopedia
The River Boyd is a river of some 7 miles (11.3 km) in length which rises near Dodington in South Gloucestershire
, England
. It is a tributary of the Bristol Avon, running in a southerly direction and joining near Bitton
. The flow rate at Bitton is an average 19.8 cuft/s. It was immortalised in the 1613 poem by John Dennys
of Pucklechurch "The Secrets of Angling", the earliest English poetical tract on fishing:
In common with other rivers of the area, watermill
s were used for various industrial undertakings, most notably the Wick Golden Valley Ochre Works. The former works site is now a local nature reserve and the river and valley form part of a Site of Nature Conservation Interest
.
, being joined by further streams from the direction of Codrington
. Just before Doynton
tributaries emanating from Dyrham
join on the left bank. The Feltham Brook joins on the right bank, from the direction of Pucklechurch
, near Doynton House and the river then passes under Cleeve Bridge and enters the steep Golden Valley, where a nature reserve has been established.
Passing under Boyd Bridge in Wick
, the river turns in a southerly direction, running parallel to the Monarch's Way
long distance footpath. Emerging from Golden Valley just north of Bitton
, the Boyd skirts the village and then meanders across river meadows before joining the Bristol Avon adjacent to the point where the Bristol and Bath Railway Path crosses the Avon.
, a mixture of clay and iron oxide
was mined in Golden Valley near Wick
and the Wick Golden Valley Ochre Works remained in business from the late nineteenth century until 1970. The spoil coloured the water a bright yellow, hence the name Golden Valley. A reservoir and lake were constructed to supply watermills which crushed the mined material.
Limestone
and Millstone Grit
were quarried locally and the coal measures that underlay the area were also worked. Water power was used for numerous mills, mostly for grinding corn, although some were for industrial works in the valley, including iron works and a paper mill. The course of the river was straightened and many dams and weirs were placed across it.
(SNCI) known as "Wick Rocks and the River Boyd". Habitats include calcareous grassland
with an alkaline soil type, broadleaved woodland, the river and associated riverbank veegtation. Species of plants include Common Cow-wheat, Bitter Vetch, Black Spleenwort, Harebell, Nettle-leaved Bellflower, Bluebell and Viper's Bugloss. A micro-moth
, Pammene trauniana, can be found - also dippers, kingfishers, buzzards, otters, bats and damselflies.
root meaning "virtue, favour, blessing or benefit". It has been suggested that this implies the waters have a healing quality.
maintains a Gauging Station at Bitton and records an average flow rate of 19.8 cuft/s. A peak rate of 978.8 cuft/s was recorded on 30 May 1979 and minimum of 0.35 cuft/s on 16 August 1976.
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is a tributary of the Bristol Avon, running in a southerly direction and joining near Bitton
Bitton
Bitton is a village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, in the Greater Bristol area on the River Boyd.It is in the far south of the South Gloucestershire district, near the border with Bath and North East Somerset...
. The flow rate at Bitton is an average 19.8 cuft/s. It was immortalised in the 1613 poem by John Dennys
John Dennys
John Dennys poet and fisherman was the pioneer of Angling poetry in England. His only work "The Secrets of Angling" was the earliest English poetical treatise on fishing, first published in 1613 in London...
of Pucklechurch "The Secrets of Angling", the earliest English poetical tract on fishing:
And thou sweet Boyd that with thy watry sway
Dost wash the cliffes of Deington and of Weeke
And through their Rockes with crooked winding way
Thy mother Avon runnest soft to seeke
In whose fayre streames the speckled Trout doth play
The Roche the Dace the Gudgin and the Bleeke
Teach me the skill with slender Line and Hooke
To take each Fish of River Pond and Brooke.
In common with other rivers of the area, watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s were used for various industrial undertakings, most notably the Wick Golden Valley Ochre Works. The former works site is now a local nature reserve and the river and valley form part of a Site of Nature Conservation Interest
Site of Nature Conservation Interest
Site of Nature Conservation Interest is a designation used in many parts of the United Kingdom to protect areas of importance for wildlife and geology at a county scale...
.
Course
The Boyd rises from springs near Sands Farm, just south of Dodington Chase. Several small tributaries join on the right from springs issuing from a ridge of high land to the north. The river then passes underneath the M4 motorwayM4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
, being joined by further streams from the direction of Codrington
Codrington, South Gloucestershire
Codrington is a settlement in South Gloucestershire, England. It is located near Junction 18 of the M4 motorway south of Wapley and Yate.Codrington is a hamlet situated alongside the B4465 road. It is in the Parish of Wapley-cum-Codrington in the hundred of Grumbald's Ash...
. Just before Doynton
Doynton
Doynton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England.In Doynton there is a pub, The Cross House, there is also a park and playing field. In the middle of the village there is a hall which is used for meetings and entertainment purposes. The church in Doynton has been noted for its herringbone...
tributaries emanating from Dyrham
Dyrham
Dyrham is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England.-Location and communications:Dyrham is at lat. 51° 29' north, long. 2° 22' west . It lies at an altitude of 100 metres above sea level. It is near the A46 trunk road, about north of Bath and a little south of the M4 motorway...
join on the left bank. The Feltham Brook joins on the right bank, from the direction of Pucklechurch
Pucklechurch
Pucklechurch is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom.- Location :Pucklechurch is a historic village with an incredibly rich past, from the Bronze Age with its tumulus on Shortwood Hill, up to the siting of a barrage balloon depot in World War II...
, near Doynton House and the river then passes under Cleeve Bridge and enters the steep Golden Valley, where a nature reserve has been established.
Passing under Boyd Bridge in Wick
Wick, Gloucestershire
Wick is a village in South Gloucestershire, England.It is situated on the A420 between Bristol and Chippenham, south of the Cotswolds. The River Boyd flows through the old village, with its watermeadows facing St. Bartholomew's Church. As well as the church, the village has several shops, The...
, the river turns in a southerly direction, running parallel to the Monarch's Way
Monarch's Way
The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester.Most of the footpath is waymarked...
long distance footpath. Emerging from Golden Valley just north of Bitton
Bitton
Bitton is a village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, in the Greater Bristol area on the River Boyd.It is in the far south of the South Gloucestershire district, near the border with Bath and North East Somerset...
, the Boyd skirts the village and then meanders across river meadows before joining the Bristol Avon adjacent to the point where the Bristol and Bath Railway Path crosses the Avon.
History
OchreOchre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...
, a mixture of clay and iron oxide
Iron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
was mined in Golden Valley near Wick
Wick, Gloucestershire
Wick is a village in South Gloucestershire, England.It is situated on the A420 between Bristol and Chippenham, south of the Cotswolds. The River Boyd flows through the old village, with its watermeadows facing St. Bartholomew's Church. As well as the church, the village has several shops, The...
and the Wick Golden Valley Ochre Works remained in business from the late nineteenth century until 1970. The spoil coloured the water a bright yellow, hence the name Golden Valley. A reservoir and lake were constructed to supply watermills which crushed the mined material.
Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
were quarried locally and the coal measures that underlay the area were also worked. Water power was used for numerous mills, mostly for grinding corn, although some were for industrial works in the valley, including iron works and a paper mill. The course of the river was straightened and many dams and weirs were placed across it.
Natural history
Wick Golden Valley Local Nature Rerserve forms part of a larger Site of Nature Conservation InterestSite of Nature Conservation Interest
Site of Nature Conservation Interest is a designation used in many parts of the United Kingdom to protect areas of importance for wildlife and geology at a county scale...
(SNCI) known as "Wick Rocks and the River Boyd". Habitats include calcareous grassland
Calcareous grassland
Calcareous grassland is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover...
with an alkaline soil type, broadleaved woodland, the river and associated riverbank veegtation. Species of plants include Common Cow-wheat, Bitter Vetch, Black Spleenwort, Harebell, Nettle-leaved Bellflower, Bluebell and Viper's Bugloss. A micro-moth
Microlepidoptera
Microlepidoptera is an artificial grouping of moth families, commonly known as the 'smaller moths' . These generally have a wingspan of under 20 mm, and are thus harder to identify by external phenotypic markings than macrolepidoptera...
, Pammene trauniana, can be found - also dippers, kingfishers, buzzards, otters, bats and damselflies.
Etymology
The name Boyd is believed to derive from a British CelticBrythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
root meaning "virtue, favour, blessing or benefit". It has been suggested that this implies the waters have a healing quality.
Hydrology
The Environment AgencyEnvironment Agency
The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
maintains a Gauging Station at Bitton and records an average flow rate of 19.8 cuft/s. A peak rate of 978.8 cuft/s was recorded on 30 May 1979 and minimum of 0.35 cuft/s on 16 August 1976.