Snaking across much of the central and eastern parts of the northern midlands the River Trent is the third longest river in the UK.
Historically it has been considered – with much justification – the boundary between northern and southern England. In the midlands it rises just north of Stoke-on-Trent, only a few miles from Staffordshire’s boundary with Cheshire. Then it flows almost all the way down eastern Staffordshire, before crossing into the East Midlands where it forms part of the boundary between Leicestershire and Derbyshire, prior to heading north through Nottingham city centre. Getting steadily wider it crosses Nottinghamshire, before providing the boundary for quite some distance between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Finally it darts across the northern fringes of Lincolnshire, to its confluence with the Ouse near the boundary with South Yorkshire where it flows out into the Humber estuary.
Its significance to the midlands is greater than just its length and the large portion of the region that it passes through. Much of the central part of the midlands from Birmingham, the Black Country, the northern half of Warwickshire and Leicestershire in the south, to Staffordshire, Derbyshire, most of Nottinghamshire and western Lincolnshire in the north, is drained by it.
The River Trent has played an important role in midlands history. From giving the Vikings access inland as far as Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire borderlands in the early medieval period (spurring the growth of fortified towns like Tamworth), to in more recent centuries being a major navigation serving the region’s burgeoning industries. For this reason much of its course beyond Stoke-on-Trent is heavily canalised. Even with the decline and disappearance of commercial traffic along its southern reaches the River Trent retains some industrial uses. At the time of writing the massive coal fired power stations at Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Gainsborough are still producing electricity. The river’s banks are lined with the remains of numerous other coal fired stations, such as Willington a little bit south of Derby, whose cooling towers still stand nearly three decades after the turbines last spun. These stations were sited on the river to make use of its waters, both for driving the turbines and at one time, transporting coal.
For such a mighty and important river, 185 miles long in total, the River Trent has an incredibly modest start. It rises next to a 1980s vintage housing estate on the southern edge of the little Staffordshire Moorlands District village of Biddulph Moor. It is, however, well worth seeing, and it is incredibly easy, time allowing, to walk there from central Stoke-on-Trent.