River Bollin
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox river The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It flows for about 30 miles from its source in the Pennine foothills through Macclesfield, Wilmslow, passing under Manchester Airport, before flowing into the Mersey section of the Manchester Ship Canal at Warburton.
Route
Along with the River Weaver and the River Gowy, the River Bollin is one of the three main tributaries of the Mersey in Cheshire.Template:Sfn
The Bollin rises at the western end of the Peak District, from springs near the Buxton to Macclesfield road. The stream descends the Template:Convert through Macclesfield and The Carrs Park in Wilmslow, where a silk mill once stood by the river. Just to the north of Wilmslow railway station the Styal railway line crosses the Bollin via a pair of brick viaducts, one built by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway in 1842 and a later bridge erected in 1909.Template:Sfn Near Styal Prison it has a confluence with the River Dean, which rises in Macclesfield Forest.Template:Sfn
The Bollin flows through the Styal country park and passes alongside Quarry Bank Mill. This mill opened in 1874 and is a noted example of a textile factory of the Industrial Revolution. The machinery for manufacturing cotton calico was powered by water wheels driven by the flow of the River Bollin. Today, the mill is preserved as a National Trust visitor attraction. Near the Quarry Bank Mill site there is a natural weir.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
To the west of Styal, the Bollin flows to the south of Manchester Airport. Between 1997 and 2000, the airport underwent expansion work and the runways were extended. To accommodate the longer runways, the River Bollin was diverted via a culvert underneath the southern runway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
For its final Template:Convert it defines the southwestern portion of the border between Greater Manchester and Cheshire. To the south of Hale, the Bollin valley is crossed by the Mid-Cheshire railway line.Template:Sfn Below Bowdon, the River Birkin, Mobberley Brook and streams coming from Rostherne Mere and Tatton Meres enter the Bollin. After Bowdon, the river flows through the village of Little Bollington; a similarly named town of Bollington lies further upstream near Macclesfield, but this town lies on the River Dean before its junction with the Bollin.Template:Sfn
The Bollin merges with the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal at Rixton Junction just north of Lymm.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The town of Macclesfield used to dispose all its waste and sewage into the Bollin. The profusion of human sewage in the Bollin was still common in 1850.Template:Citation needed
Tributaries
- Agden Brook (L)
- Millington Clough
- Birkin Brook (L)
- Blackburn's Brook (L)
- Shawgreen Brook (L)
- Rostherne Brook
- Mopperley Brook (R)
- Mobberley Brook
- Swim Brook (R)
- Whim Brook (R)
- Whitehall Brook (R)
- Pott Brook (R)
- Sugar Brook (R)
- Mobberley Brook
- Tatton Mere brook (L)
- Pedley Brook (R)
- Marthall Brook
- Blackburn's Brook (L)
Bollin Valley Way
The Bollin Valley Way is a Template:Convert footpath which follows the route of the River Bollin from Macclesfield Riverside Park to the Manchester Ship Canal at Partington.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>