The River Severn is a clean, fast-flowing river set in a pastoral background of picturesque countryside and rolling hills.
The name Severn is said to have been derived from Sabrina, a tragic water nymph reputed to have been drowned in its waters. In its upper reaches of Powy's, it is sometimes known as the Hafren.....
The Severn is unique in many ways
- While the Thames is the longest river in England at 210 miles, the Severn (220 miles) is the longest river in Great Britain, from its source to its outflow into the Bristol Channel.
- The river basin is the largest river in Great Britain covering an area of 4,410 square miles, with a population of two million.
- Principal tributaries of the Severn are the Warwickshire Avon - with its sub-tributaries the Leam, Warwickshire Stour and Arrow - the Vyrnwy, Tern, Teme, Leadon and Frome.
- The course of the river rises on the north-eastern slopes of Bryn Cras, one of the peaks of Pumlumon Fawr (Plyynlimon) on the south-east order of Powys, 2,000 feet above sea level and within two miles of the source of the River Wye.
- At Llanidloes it is joined by the rivers Clywedog and Dulas. On the former, Clywedog Reservoir was constructed in the 1960s. This is a regulating reservoir with a surface area of 615 acres.
- The river then bends north-east, passing Newton and Welshpool - this part of the valley bears the name Vale of Powys. It receives the Camlad, the only river which flows from England into Wales, near Forden, and the River Vyrwy, Lake Vyrwy, a direct supply reservoir with a capacity of 13,125 million gallons at the head of the River Vyrwy, provides Liverpool with about 45 million gallons a day.
- In Shropshire, the river links up with a number of tributaries, the main one being the Tern. In Worcestershire, it receives the Stour just beyond Stourport and after flowing through Worcester it joins one of its major tributaries, the Teme.
- With its tributary, the Clun, the Teme rises in the mountains and flows through country which is highly cultivated for joins one of its major tributaries, the Teme.
- With its tributary, the Clun, the Teme rises in the mountains and flows through country which is highly cultivated for hops and soft fruit.
- The Severn enters Gloucestershire near Tewkesbury where it links with the Warwickshire Avon. The Avon is the Severn's longest and largest tributary. It rises in Northamptonshire, flows through Stratford and the Vale of Evesham - the home of market gardening - and is, in part navigable.
- Bending south-west the Severn then passes Gloucestershire, below which it becomes estuarine and tidal. The estuary merges into the Bristol Channel along a diagonal line between the mouths of the Bristol Avon on the east and the Wye on the west.