- River Slea
The River Slea is an 18-mile long
tributary of theRiver Witham , inLincolnshire ,England . It rises nearWest Willoughby , two miles SW of Ancaster, at an altitude of 70 metres. It descends 30 metres in the first 3 km of its course to and through Ancaster. It then flows on past theSite of Special Scientific Interest alongside Sleaford Golf Club, to the major town ofSleaford .At Sleaford it flows above ground in two separate courses, and then curves around the foot of The Hub (the largest arts & crafts gallery outside London) where a new riverside sculpture walk follows it. Leaving Sleaford, it passes through the unspoiled ancient woodland at Haverholme, then runs down through the increasingly wildlife-rich
South Kyme to join the River Witham at Chapel Hill.The River Slea was made navigable from the Witham up to Sleaford in 1794, although these navigations were closed in 1878, having been made uneconomic by the arrival of the railway in 1857. There is now an active Sleaford Navigation Trust that aims to reopen to navigations again as far as Sleaford.
In 1872 the river was described as "a never-ending source of pure water", and was a
trout river renowned throughout the East coast of England. But in the late 1960s, the Anglian Water Authority took control of the river, and thereafter it became rapidly degraded, due mostly to over-abstraction of water for use in farming.ee also
*
Sleaford Navigation External links
* Map sources for: gbmapping|SK964427 - source on Willoughby Heath and gbmappingsmall|TF209540 - confluence with the Witham
* [http://www.sleafordgolfclub.co.uk/ Sleaford Golf Club]
* [http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/ Sleaford Navigation Trust]
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