River Soar

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A canalised section of the river in Leicester
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A canalised section of the river in Leicester

The River Soar is a tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands.

It rises near Hinckley in Leicestershire and flows through Leicester (where it is joined by the Grand Union Canal at Aylestone), Barrow-on-Soar , beside Loughborough and Kegworth, before joining the Trent near Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, and thence into the Humber and the North Sea. Its major tributary, the once navigable River Wreake, joins it near Syston.

The Soar has been made navigable to boats and several shortcuts have been put in. The section between Loughborough and Leicester was made navigable in 1784, and the Grand Union Canal connected it south to the southern network and to London, in 1814.

According to legend, the body of King Richard III of England was thrown into the Soar after his death. The bridge carrying the A47 across the Soar at Leicester is known as 'King Richard's Bridge'.

It passes

Contents

[edit] Chronology Of The River Soar In Leicester

  • Leir of Britain is said to have been buried by his daughter Cordelia in an underground chamber beneath the River Soar near Leicester.
  • 1634 Thomas Skipworth of Cotes gained a grant from Charles I to make the river Soar "portable for barges and boats" though the scheme was never completed.
  • 1794 The Leicester Canal was opened making the Soar navigable for almost 40 miles. The western line was also opened - known as the Charnwood Forest Branch. However, most of the branch was made up of rail tracks rather than a waterway. This included a 2½ mile uphill climb from Loughborough Basin. At the western end of the branch rail lines travelled towards Coleorton and Swannington. A track to Cloudhill, which would have connected to similar lines on the Ashby Canal, was proposed but never built.
  • 1795 Another branch line (operated by a separate company) opened from the main line of the Leicester Canal (between Cossington and Syston) to Melton Mowbray. The line was 15 miles long and used the River Wreake for virtually the whole of its course. The line was sometimes known as the Wreak Navigation though it is better known as the Melton Mowbray Navigation. This new line was so successful that within a year William Jessop was appointed to survey another new line which would extend the Melton Mowbray Navigation to Oakham in Rutlandshire, a further 15 miles. The extension would be called the Oakham Canal. An Act of Parliament was passed and work began.
  • 1796 While the lines to Leicester and Melton Mowbray were doing very well, trade on the Charnwood Forest Branch was very slow to pick up. The company even put on demonstrations in an attempt to encourage its use. With no real success being gained from this the company went into the coal carrying and selling business itself.
  • 1797 A proposal to extend the main line of the Leicester Canal much further south was announced. A new canal, the Leicestershire & Northamptonshire Union Canal would link the river Soar with the River Nene. However, like many great ideas, the money ran out before the imagination did and the line reached just 17 of the proposed 44 miles, coming to a stop at Debdale Wharf near Kibworth Beauchamp. Thus the Leicestershire & Northamptonshire Canal never even got close to Northamptonshire. In fact, the whole project had proved to be something of a failure, the company having spent thousands of pounds building a waterway which past nowhere in particular and ended in middle of the countryside miles from any major town. Meanwhile, the Charnwood Forest Branch was still struggling to attract any trade. Water supply was one reason for lack of use so the company built Blackbrook Reservoir. Following this, trade picked up but only very slightly.
  • 1802 The Oakham Canal opened after costing almost £70,000 to build. It was 15 miles long, with 19 broad locks. Boats could now travel onto the River Soar from Rutlandshire.
  • 1809 The main line of the Leicestershire & Northamptonshire Canal was extended from its resting place near Kibworth Beauchamp to Market Harborough where once again the work came to a stop. All the same, it was now a considerable navigation, linking the south of Leicestershire to the river Trent. However, there was still no link to the Grand Junction Canal.
  • 1810 By now ideas of connecting Leicester to Northampton seemed pointless. The Grand Junction Canal was running a tramway into Northampton and would surely soon convert this to a full navigation. The obvious thing to do now was to connect the Leicester navigations to the Grand Junction Canal.
  • 1814 The new link between the Leicester navigations and the Grand Junction Canal opened and was named the Grand Union Canal (not to be confused with the later canal route of the same name).
  • 1848 The owners of the River Soar Navigation were finally able to officially abandon the Charnwood Forest Branch which had stood idle since 1801.
  • 1877 After 80 years the Melton Mowbray (or Wreak) Navigation also closed leaving Melton Mowbray with no waterway outlet to the main canal system.
  • 1886 Mr. Fellows of Fellows, Morton & Clayton (who were the main carriers on the Grand Union link) pushed the company to convert the canal to wide beam. When this was not done he tried to encourage the Grand Junction Company to buy the link.
  • 1894 The Grand Union and the Leicestershire & Northamptonshire Union canals were purchased by the Grand Junction Canal Company. By now, though even the Grand Junction Company wasn't whole-heatedly in favour of widening the link. Instead they looked into methods of making the lock flights more efficient. The simple answer was to make a duplicate flight alongside the existing locks to make two-way traffic but this would cause other problems, especially water supply which was already a major headache.
  • 1931 The whole stretch of waterway from Norton Junction through to Leicester and on to Long Eaton was merged with the Grand Junction Canal to form the Grand Union Canal.

[edit] History of the industry and development along the river

The River Soar before the late 1700 was too small and shallow to allow navigation of barges; however this was partially solved by the construction of the Leicester canal which allowed the Soar to be navigable for almost about 40 miles. (www.leicester.gov.uk/)

The expansion of the canal meant that industry could start to develop along the canal side, with the transport provided by the canal being “vital to the industry” (Grand Union Canal Company). This included buildings and industries like “wind and watermills; brewing and malting; bridges; canal and railway structures; public utilities.” (Neaverson 2001)

“By 1895, there were 231 listed hosiery manufacturers in the county. In Leicester, the industry employed 10% of the population in 1851, and around 7% in 1881 and 1911” (Neaveson, 2001). This shows the importance of hosiery to Leicester’s economy. This industry needed a consistent supply of water and needed transport links, so was located alongside the canal. Due to the excellent transport links provided by the Grand Union Canal, the Hosiery industry was able to take off.

Many of these factories however soon outgrew themselves, moving to new larger sites, which vacated space for other trades such as boot and shoe manufacture, printing or box making.

Railway competition in the nineteenth century reduced canal profits. This was the beginning of the end for many of the companies who owned the canals; several of these companies converted their canals to railways while many of the others were bought out by railway companies looking to expand their businesses.

With the decline of industry in the 1960s, the warehouses and factories which were once the core of Leicester’s economy had fallen into dereliction. Leicester City Council has made a move towards re-developing the waterfront. “Offering one of the most exciting waterside regeneration opportunities in the country” (Leicester Regeneration Company, 2005). The company is currently building luxury waterside apartments. This will enhance the areas aesthetic values. Research conducted by Newcastle University suggests that people’s desire to reside on the waterfront and enjoy recreation offered by the canal is upset by “visually unattractive features, such as run-down derelict areas and poor design” (Fisher 2003).

The re-development plan has included the building of the Walkers stadium, home to Leicester City F.C., along the canal in 2002, “from a barren, desolate piece of waste-ground has risen a stunning futuristic collaboration of steel and glass that dominates the skyline of Leicester” (www.lcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/StadiumOverview/0,,10274,00.html). Old warehouses have also been converted into student accommodation for De Montfort University increasing the value of the area.

[edit] Tourism

The Soar is now a hive of tourism rather than of industry. Water from the River Ganges is put into the River Soar upstream of Leicester “blessing the water” making it an alternative holy site to the river Ganges in India for performing funeral rites in Britain for the benefit of the Hindu, Sikh and Jain population. Holiday barge cruises are extremely popular as it is a relaxing way to visit the country and get ‘in-touch’ with nature. The tow-paths next to the canal are used for “cycling, rambling, horse-riding and picnicking” (Leicester City Council, 2005).

The waterway is a popular location for match and occasional fishing. There are large carp, chub, bream, roach, and perch in the canal, plus dace and barbel on some stretches (www.waterscape.com/River_Soar).

[edit] Pollution

The River Soar is rich in wildlife with thriving bird, fish and plant populations being popular with wildlife enthusiasts. The river was once notorious for its unusual pink colour - a result of discharges from Leicester's prosperous textile industries. However clean-up work by the Environment Agency has now largely restored it to its natural state.

Industry now wanting to attempt to discharge any sewage waste into the river must now obtain an agreement from the Environment Agency. Several consents have been granted to companies to use the River Soar, however the quantity and quality of the sewage is controlled to a preset amount that is agreed on with the Environment Agency.

The quality of any water is determined by what is able to contaminate the river upstream, the River Soar is constantly monitored by the Environment Agency which keeps check on the level of pollution. The pollution in the water running through the Soar in the city of Leicester slightly improves in quality; however there is a significant decrease in the quality just downstream of the city, where the Wanlip sewage treatment works enters the river.

Unfortunately though new tourism industry has caused environmental problems; Barge hulls and propellers may cause “physical damage and uprooting” of plants and turbulence may increase water turbidity to the extent that light may not reach underwater plants, reducing photosynthesis (Murphy et al. 1983). Sewage works have an adverse effect on water life. (Alabaster, 1960)

[edit] References

  • Alabaster, J (1960) The Effect of a Sewage Effluent on the Distribution of Oxygen and Fish in a Stream,
  • Fisher (2003), Waterside Properties, <www.waterways.org.uk/library/restoration/tech_handbook/Chap5.pdf>
  • Grand Union Canal Company (1932) Arteries Of Commerce: Grand Union Canal, Gloucester Printers, Gloucester
  • Murphy, K., Eaton, J (1983), Effects of Pleasure-Boat Traffic on Macrophyte Growth in Canals, Journal of Applied Ecology, 20, 713-729.
  • Neaverson, P. (2001) An Archeological Resource Assessment Of Modern Leicestershire And Rutland (1750 onwards)

[edit] See also

Soar Valley

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