River Crane, London
| Crane | |
| River | |
 River Crane in Crane Park Whitton below the nature reserve and powder mills site
|
|
| Country | England |
|---|---|
| Counties | Greater London |
| Districts / Boroughs | London Borough of Hillingdon, London Borough of Hounslow, London Borough of Richmond |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Yeading Brook, Duke of Northumberland's River |
| Towns | Cranford, Whitton |
| Landmark | Heathrow Airport |
| Source | |
| - location | Hayes, Hillingdon |
| Mouth | River Thames |
| - location | Isleworth |
| Length | 13.6 km (8 mi) |
| Discharge | for Marsh Farm |
| - average | 0.54 m3/s (19 cu ft/s) |
| - max | 13.4 m3/s (473 cu ft/s) 28 December 1979 |
| - min | 0.00 m3/s (0 cu ft/s) 5 December 1982 |
| Discharge elsewhere (average) | |
| - Cranford Park | 0.51 m3/s (18 cu ft/s) |
 |
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (December 2011) |
The River Crane is a river in west London, England, and is a tributary of the River Thames.
Contents |
[edit] Location
The River Crane is 8.5 miles (13.6 km) in length. Its source is taken to be a point south of North Hyde Road in Hayes, Hillingdon, from where its course is generally in a southerly, if near semi-circular, direction, before it joins the River Thames at Isleworth.
Its name is a back-formation from Cranford, London. Formerly it was called the Cranford River.
Passing through Cranford, the river crosses Cranford Park, skirts the eastern side of Heathrow and Hounslow Heath (where the Duke of Northumberland's River enters the Crane). Here the Duke's River passes to the south of London Heathrow Airport before joining the main river. From this point the Crane, which has been flowing in a south-westerly direction, passes through Crane Park (Whitton). In Crane Park is the site of the Hounslow Powder Mills which were built in the 16th century and continued to make gunpowder until 1927. The mills have disappeared, but the "Shot Tower" still stands nearby.[1] The large millpool on an island above the mills has been turned into a nature reserve.[2] The river then turns to the north-east to join the Thames at Isleworth, throwing off the second section of the Duke's River near Kneller Gardens in Twickenham. The Crane is tidal for a short distance before its confluence with the Thames.
The River Crane creates the boundary between the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow. Around Hanworth and Whitton, and Isleworth and St. Margarets it also creates a boundary between the London boroughs of Hounslow and Richmond.
When extending the Piccadilly Line from Hounslow West to Heathrow Airport, the bogginess of the ground beneath the river prevented engineers tunnelling below it, so the line rises from its tunnels on either side to cross over it.
[edit] Tributaries
The principal tributary of the river — the Yeading Brook (formerly known as "The River Fishbourne") — begins its course considerably further north in the high ground between the northwest London suburbs of Pinner and Harrow. The main tributaries of the Crane are:
- Duke of Northumberland's River 8.5 miles (13.6 km): this is in two sections, from the River Colne, Hertfordshire to Hounslow; and Whitton to Isleworth adjacent to Syon Park. It was so named because Syon House is owned by the Duke. It is a man-made watercourse, such as figure largely in the Crane catchment.
- Yeading Brook 16 miles (25.8 km): rises (in part) from the Headstone Manor moat, and follows a meandering course through North Harrow, Rayners Lane, Ruislip, Northolt (skirting Northolt Aerodrome as it does so where it joins the Roxbourne Brook shortly thereafter), and onwards to Southall, before its confluence with the Crane at Hayes.
There are at least ten other streams.
[edit] Pollution incidents
On 29–31 October 2011, a large but unknown quantity of raw sewage was deliberately diverted into the Crane.[3][4][5] A two-metre valve jammed shut on Saturday morning at Cranford Bridge on the A4 Bath Road while Thames Water engineers carried out routine maintenance.[6] Unable to force the valve back open, they arranged for the backed-up sewage to be taken away in tanker lorries for treatment. The volume of sewage was such that they were unable to remove it fast enough by tanker. Faced with the choice of letting the remaining sewage back up into the airport or spill to the River Crane, they opted for the latter, resulting in sewage entering the river and damaging wildlife. Sewage spilled intermittently into the river until 3am on Monday. This resulted in the death of over 3,000 fish.[7] A full assessment of the damage caused is still ongoing.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Local History Notes. The River Crane and Gunpowder Mills. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-11-01.
- ^ London Wildlife Trust – Crane Park Island[dead link]
- ^ Thames Anglers Conservancy: River Crane Devastated by Raw Sewage. Rivertac.org (2011-09-23). Retrieved on 2011-11-01.
- ^ St.Margarets Community Site: River Crane Polluted. Stmgrts.org.uk. Retrieved on 2011-11-01.
- ^ Sewage spill kills fish in River Crane near Heathrow. Bbc.co.uk. 31 October 2011. Retrieved on 2011-11-01.
- ^ Company pledges to repair River Crane sewage spill damage
- ^ Pollution incident on the River Crane kills thousands of fish. Environment Agency. Retrieved on 2011-11-01.
[edit] External links
- London Biodiversity Audit includes "The Tidal Thames" — from which part of the information in this article is taken
- Environment Agency Flood Report: upper Crane
- Environment Agency Flood Report: lower Crane
- Friends of the River Crane Environment
- Thames Anglers Conservancy
| Next confluence upstream | River Thames | Next confluence downstream |
| Hogsmill River (south) | River Crane, London | Duke of Northumberland's River (north) |
