|  | ## Identify rivers and lakes of the British Isles This game asks you to identify the rivers and lakes in this map. When you click on the Start button, the names will disapear, and you will have to replace them by selecting the correct name when asked. Return to rivers and seas index Facts about these rivers and lakes

### Facts about these rivers and lakes The Thames flows through Oxford, Reading, Windsor and London. It ends in the Thames esturary. It used to be heavily polluted. In 1858, the 'Great Stink' caused sittings of Parliament (which is next to the river) to be abandoned, which caused the Victorian London sewerage system to be built. The Severn flows through Shrewsbury, Worcester, and Gloucester. It ends in the Severn esturary which leads to the Bristol Channel. It is the longest British river. The river's estuary has the second largest tidal range in the world, about 15 metres. This leads to the Severn bore. Several times each year, when conditions are right, a wave forms which travels up the Severn as far as Gloucester. This is big enough to surf along! Loch Ness is the largest largest Scottish loch (or lake) by volume. It is part of the Great Glen. Loch Ness is very deep and is famous for the Loch Ness monster or Nessie. This is claimed to be a large animal which lives in the loch. The Lake District is an area of mountains and lakes in England. It is a National Park. William Wordsworth lived there and wrote poems about the area, which he loved. Lough Neagh is the largest lake in the British Isles. The border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland goes through Lough Neagh. An Irish legend says that the giant Finn McCool scooped out earth to throw at a rival in Scotland. This formed Lough Neagh, and the earth fell into the Irish Sea and made the Isle of Man. The Tweed marks part of the border between Scotland and England. It enters the North Sea at Berwick-on-Tweed. The Tamar marks most of the boundary between Devon and Cornwall. It enters the English Channel at Plymouth Sound. Isambard Kingdom Brunel built a famous bridge over the Tamar in Plymouth to carry his railway to Cornwall. The Great Ouse and its tributaries drain East Anglia, the flattest part of Britain. At King's Lynn, the Great Ouse enters the Wash and then flows to the North Sea. The Clyde is the river of Glasgow. It was a famous ship-building area. The Tyne flows through Newcastle-on-Tyne - another famous ship-building area. The Trent and its tributaries drain part of the Pennines, the mountainous backbone of England. It flows through Stoke-on-Trent and Nottingham, and enters the Humber at Hull and then flows to the North Sea. The Shannon is the longest river in Ireland. The Wye marks part of the border between England and Wales. The Mersey flows through Manchester and Liverpool. There is a song about the ferry across the Mersey at Liverpool.

© Jo Edkins 2007