The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale.
The watercourse first becomes known as the River Wharfe at the confluence of Greenfield Beck and Oughtershaw Beck at Beckermonds. Flowing initially through Langstrothdale, it then passes by, or in some cases through, Kettlewell, Grassington, Bolton Abbey, Addingham, Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Otley, Wetherby and Tadcaster. It then flows into the River Ouse near Cawood. The section of the river from its source to around Addingham is in Upper Wharfedale and has a very different character to the river downstream.
The Wharfe is long (before it joins the Ouse), making it the 21st longest river in Britain. It is a public navigation from the weir at Tadcaster to its junction with the Ouse near Cawood and is tidal from Ulleskelf to the Ouse.
Etymology
The name Wharfe, at least in its present form, derives from the Old Norse hverfi meaning 'a bend, crook, turn', a name implying that the river was winding. However, this Old Norse form was probably adapted from an earlier name: a Roman altar found in Ilkley is inscribed "VERBEIAE SACRUM" ('sacred to Verbeia') and is believed to refer to the River Wharfe (personified as a goddess). This much earlier attestation indicates that the Norse name was adapted (possibly via Old English) from a Brittonic name *werbeiā. What this Brittonic name meant is unclear. Conventional wisdom associates it with a proto-Indo-European root *wer-, again relating to turning or twisting and suggesting a winding river. But twenty-first-century scholarship has argued that this proposal cannot explain the -b- of Verbeia. Recent suggestions include Patrick Sims-Williams's association of the name with Old Irish ferb ('cattle') and Andrew Breeze's case for a meaning 'powerful striker'. Thus there is no clear consensus on the earliest meanings of the name.
Course
The river is deemed to start at the confluence of Oughtershaw Beck and Green Field Beck in Langstrothdale near Beckermonds. It flows east and south-east taking the flows from several small streams originating on Yockenthwaite Moor on the north bank and Horse Head Moor on the south bank. After Hubberholme, the river flows south past Buckden and Starbotton and then south-east past Kettlewell before flowing south again. Near Conistone are the gentle waterfalls of Scar Lash. Near Grassington, the river turns south-east over Linton Falls. South of Appletreewick, the river flows south-west for a short distance until it reaches Gill Beck and returns southward. To the north of Bolton Bridge, the river narrows and goes over waterfalls in an area known as The Strid. The river winds south and south-east towards Ilkley where it heads east through Otley and Collingham. It briefly flows north to Wetherby before turning south and then south-east through Tadcaster to the confluence with the River Ouse.
The Strid
The Strid (grid reference: SE 064565) is a series of waterfalls and rapids contained within a deep channel cut into the local sandstone. The River Wharfe narrows dramatically here from approximately wide, just to the north of the start of the Strid, to about less than later. It is especially dangerous as both banks are undercut, and it has been the scene of a number of fatalities, including those of a honeymooning couple in 1998. The Strid walk is very popular and is accessed from the car park at Bolton Abbey.
Its name comes from the Old English stryth, meaning 'turmoil'. This was later corrupted to Strid, referring to 'the possibility of striding across'.
The Strid's hazardous nature is referenced in several literary works, including The Force of Prayer by William Wordsworth, and The Striding Place by Gertrude Atherton.
Linton Falls
Linton Falls (grid reference: SE 001633) are located close to the village of Linton, just south of Grassington. There is a footbridge straddling the falls for viewing.
Water levels
Low and high water levels are an average figure.
A serious flood in 1686 carried away a number of bridges and buildings.
Natural history
Fauna
More than 230 species of bird have been observed along the river valley including red grouse, stonechat, whinchat, golden plover, pied flycatcher, redstart, wood warbler, common sandpiper, grey wagtail, dipper, tawny owl, sparrowhawk, greater spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, treecreeper and, in wetter places, common snipe and woodcock, chiffchaff, willow warbler, garden warbler, and twite.