British watershed

The British watershed is the drainage divide in Great Britain that separates river systems that flow to the east and south into the North Sea and the English Channel from those that flow to the west and north into the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. In British English the word "watershed" refers to a drainage divide, the line between drainage basins, while in American English it refers to the drainage basin.

This watershed is self-defining, and is not marked on the ground in any way. Alfred Wainwright explained the concept in his Pennine Way Companion (a guide to the Pennine Way, a walking route along the Pennine Hills in northern England) as follows:

Line of the watershed Although the Scottish watershed has been walked and described by several people, the English section of the British watershed has apparently received less attention. Its northern section, the Pennine watershed, is described and illustrated by Andrew Bibby in his book The Backbone of England. The UK Environment Agency has a website which identifies the catchment areas of the river systems, and can thus be used to trace the watersheds between them. The Foundation for Water Research displayed a map showing the "river basin districts" into which it divided the country, thus illustrating the watershed except in the south west of England which was considered as one district.

Here is a summary of the line of the watershed from north to south.

Scotland +Section of watershedEndpoints and distance in milesMain summitsMajor rivers to the north and westMajor rivers to the south and eastThe Flow Country John o'Groats to Loch Merkland Ben HeeThurso, Naver HelmsdaleThe Northwest Highlands Loch Merkland to the Great Glenn (Loch Oich) 190 miles (306 km)40 Munros (from Conival to Sgurr nan Goirechan)Broom, Carron, LochyOykel, Bran, Beauly, Moriston, GarryThe Grampian Mountains The Great Glen to Drymen 180 miles (290 km)10 Munros (from Stob Poite Coire Ardair to Ben Lomond)Spean, OrchySpey, Tummel, Lyon, Earn, Forth The Central Lowlands Drymen to Shotts 75 miles (121 km)Campsie FellsClydeForth, TweedThe Southern Uplands Shotts to the Border 155 miles (249km)Hart Fell, Ettrick Pen, Peel FellClyde, AnnanTweed, Tyne

England +Section of watershedEndpoints and distanceMain summitsMajor rivers to the north and westMajor rivers to the south and eastThe Pennines The Border to Settle 150 miles (241 km)Cross Fell, High Seat, Pen-y-GhentEden, Lune, Ribble, MerseyTyne, Tees, Ure, TrentThe Peak DistrictSettle to Buxton 130 miles (209 km)Bleaklow, Kinder PlateauGoyt, TameDerwent, DoveThe MidlandsBuxton to Daventry 210 miles (338 km)The RoachesSevern, Avon, StourTrent, Nene, WellandThe Northamptonshire Uplands and CotswoldsDaventry to Swindon 130 miles (209 km)Cleeve HillSevern, Avon, ChurnSwere, Windrush, Colne, ThamesWessexSwindon to Exmoor 190 miles (306 km)Salisbury Plain, Dunkery BeaconParrett, ToneWylye, CulmThe Southwest Exmoor to Land's End 240 miles (386 km)Dartmoor, Bodmin MoorTaw, Torridge, Camel, HayleExe, Tamar, Fowey, Fal

Walking the watershed There are a number of possible termini for the complete British watershed, but most people who attempt the end-to-end journey (by whatever means) travel from Land's End to John o' Groats or vice versa.

The only way to complete a journey along the watershed is on foot. Two people are known to have completed it:

Mike Allen walked a route from Land's End to Cape Wrath, in numerous mainly short sections, April 1988 – October 1994. The working title for this achievement was "Mike's Silly Walk", but it was never written up before his death. Malcolm Wylie completed a 130-day traverse of the UK on a slightly different route, from John o'Groats to Land's End in 14 sections between 1996 and 2009, covering 1800 miles. This is described in his book Walking the British Watershed.

References

British watershed

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