Trent Falls

The Trent is third in the list of longest rivers in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands into the Humber Estuary. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and spring snowmelt, which in the past often caused the river to change course. The river passes through Stoke-on-Trent, Stone, Staffordshire, Rugeley, Burton-upon-Trent and Nottingham before joining the River Ouse, Yorkshire at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea between Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire and Immingham in Lincolnshire. The wide Humber estuary has often been described as the boundary between the Midlands and the north of England.

The River Ouse ( OOZ) is a river in North Yorkshire, England. Hydrologically, the river is a continuation of the River Ure, and the combined length of the River Ure and River Ouse makes it, at 129 miles (208 km), the sixth-longest river of the United Kingdom and (including the Ure) the longest to flow entirely in one county. The length of the Ouse alone is about 52 miles (84 km) but the total length of the river is disputed. It is a matter of opinion as to whether the River Ouse is formed at the confluence of the River Ure and the much-smaller Ouse Gill Beck at Cuddy Shaw Reach near Linton-on-Ouse, about six miles downstream of the confluence of the River Swale with the River Ure. An alternative opinion is recorded in a publication published in The Yorkshire Post in a series dated 1891, written and illustrated by Tom Bradley. His description and bird's-eye-view maps—specifically in his account of the River Swale—suggests that the River Ouse starts at the confluence of the Swale and the Ure. His narrative states that the Ouse has no specific source, simply flowing from the stated confluence until it runs into the Humber at the confluence of the Ouse and Trent. Continuing the path of the Ouse downstream from Linton-on-Ouse, it then flows through the city of York and the nearby towns of Selby and Goole before joining with the River Trent at Trent Falls, near the village of Faxfleet, then entering the Humber estuary. The Ouse's system of tributaries includes the Derwent, Aire, Don, Wharfe, Rother, Nidd, Swale, Ure and Foss. Together they drain a large part of the Pennines, and much of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. The Ouse valley is a wide, flat plain; heavy rainfall higher in the river's drainage basin can bring severe flooding to settlements. In recent years York, Selby and villages in between have been flooded.

Faxfleet is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Blacktoft, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 6 miles (10 km) west of Brough, and at the start of the Humber, on the north bank, where the River Ouse and the River Trent meet. In 1931 the parish had a population of 151. Faxfleet lies within the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden, an area placed as the 10th most affluent in the country in a 2003 Barclays Private Clients survey.Faxfleet was the location of the Faxfleet Preceptory, a former community of the Knights Templar. It was one of Yorkshire's principal preceptories, valued at more than £290 (equivalent to £250,000 in 2021). when it was closed in 1308. In 1823 Faxfleet was listed as in the Wapentake of Harthill. Population was 163, with occupations including three farmers and a brick & tile maker. There was a gentleman who lived at the Hall, and two yeomen.Faxfleet was formerly a township in the parish of South Cave, from 1866 Faxfleet was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Blacktoft.

Whitton Island is an island situated at the western end of the Humber Estuary in northern England. The almond-shaped island straddles the county boundary between the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire to the north and North Lincolnshire which otherwise runs over tidal water roughly along the centre line of the estuary. Parts of the island fall within the boundaries of four civil parishes. Despite being named after the Lincolnshire parish of Whitton, the largest part of the island is in the Yorkshire parish of Blacktoft and much of the remainder is in the neighbouring parish of Broomfleet. Much smaller parts of the southeast coast of the island fall within the Lincolnshire parishes of Alkborough and Whitton.Whitton Island is an ait (or eyot), formed by the deposit of sands and gravels washed down by the river, which accumulate over a period of time, and become consolidated by the vegetation that colonises them. Only in recent years has the island emerged sufficiently from the mud and sand bank known as Whitton Sand to be mapped by the Ordnance Survey as a new feature. Whitton Sands forms a part of the Humber Wildfowl Refuge.Whitton Island is owned by Associated British Ports who were in discussion with the RSPB during 2014 over its future management. In March 2017 the RSPB signed a 50-year lease on the then 120 hectare island to manage it as a Nature Reserve. To improve the island as a habitat for wetland birds, the RSPB dug a lagoon and several ponds. This has resulted in the arrival of increased numbers of birds some of which had not previously ventured so high up the estuary. The island now provides a safe nesting habitat for the avocet, and also good feeding and roosting areas for pink-footed geese, teal, wigeon, dunlin, spoonbills, curlew, turnstone and ringed plover.

Julian's Bower or Julian Bower is a name given to turf mazes in several different parts of England. Only one of this name still exists, at Alkborough in North Lincolnshire. It has also been known by corrupted forms of the name, such as "Gillian's Bore" and "Gilling Bore". The 18th-century antiquary William Stukeley mentions a "Julian Bower" turf maze at Horncastle, Lincolnshire, and in nearby Louth there was a "Gelyan Bower", mentioned in accounts of 1554. At Goathland, North Yorkshire, there was a "July Park" or "St Julian's" maze. At Whinfell Forest there is a farm called Julian Bower, originally built to support the Keeper. It now lies outside the forest boundary. Some English turf mazes are very similar in their layout to Scandinavian labyrinths, which usually have their paths marked with stones. At Grothornet, in Vartdal in the Sunnmore Province of Norway, there is a stone-lined labyrinth called "Den Julianske Borg" ("Julian's Castle"). The name is believed to be derived from Julus, son of Aeneas of Troy, and the word place-name element burgh, meaning "a fortified place", "fort" or "castle". The reasoning behind this etymology is based on the fact that many mazes and labyrinths in Britain were called "Troy", "Troy Town" or "The Walls of Troy"; similar names, such as "Trojaburg", "Trojburg" or "Trelleborg", were used in Scandinavia. In popular legend, the walls of the city of Troy were constructed in such a complex and confusing way that any enemy who entered them would be unable to find his way out. On a clear day, Emley Moor TV tower (40 miles), the top of York Minster and the Kilburn White Horse (45 miles) can be seen from Julian's Bower.

Alkborough is a parish of 471 people in 192 households (2021 census) in North Lincolnshire, England, located near the northern end of The Cliff range of hills overlooking Trent Falls, the confluence of the River Trent and the River Ouse. Alkborough, with the hamlet of Walcot about 1 mile (1.6 km) south, forms a civil parish which covers about 2,875 acres (12 km2). The village was once thought to be the location that the Romans called Aquis, but that name is now usually associated with the town of Buxton in Derbyshire (Aquis Arnemetiae).

Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve is a nature reserve in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which leases the site from Associated British Ports.

Blacktoft is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Ouse, 1 mile (1.6 km) west from where it joins the River Trent and becomes the Humber. It is approximately 6 miles (10 km) east from Howden and 23 miles (37 km) south-east from the county town of York. Blacktoft lies within the Parliamentary constituency of Haltemprice and Howden an area that mainly consists of middle class suburbs, towns and villages. The area is affluent, placed as the 10th most affluent in the country in a 2003 Barclays Private Clients survey, and has one of the highest proportions of owner-occupiers in the country.The civil parish of Blacktoft consists of the village of Blacktoft, Bellasize, Faxfleet and Yokefleet. According to the 2011 UK Census the parish had a population of 322, an increase of one on the 2001 UK census figure.Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve lies across the Ouse. The relatively new island of Whitton Island in the Humber Estuary falls partly within the parish.

Adlingfleet is a drained, fertile, former marshland village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Twin Rivers, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east-southeast of Goole town centre. Its sea wall along the far north-east is set back from the Ouse estuary leaving the largest single reedbed in England. In 1961 the parish had a population of 137.

Broomfleet is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the Humber Estuary approximately 4 miles (6 km) west of Brough. According to the 2011 UK Census, Broomfleet parish had a population of 302, an increase on the 2001 UK Census figure of 293. The village is served by Broomfleet railway station on the Selby Line. The local parish church is dedicated to St Mary and is designated Grade II listed.Whitton Island in the Humber Estuary falls partly within the parish. The island was formed from a mud and sandbank at the turn of the 21st century. Broomfleet Island is an area of low-lying land adjacent to the Humber Estuary, which was historically detached from the mainland by the tidal channel of Broomfleet Hope.

Broomfleet railway station serves the village of Broomfleet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Selby Line 14+1⁄2 miles (23.3 km) west of Hull. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Northern. Formerly located on a quadrupled section of line with platforms on the outer ('slow') lines only, the station was rebuilt when the section from Gilberdyke was reduced to double track around 1987.

Twin Rivers is a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated along the south bank of the River Ouse to the east of the town of Goole, covering an area of 2,403.178 hectares (5,938.38 acres).The civil parish is formed by the villages of Adlingfleet and Whitgift and the hamlet of Ousefleet. The parish was part of the Goole Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974, then in Boothferry district of Humberside until 1996.According to the 2011 UK census, Twin Rivers parish had a population of 367, an increase on the 2001 UK census figure of 357.