Flow North Young Stream Trivia Quiz

Answer: River Medina

All of these are north flowing rivers on the Isle of White, but the River Medina is the only one flowing through Newport. Due to the geography of the Isle of Wight, where the high ground is on the southern edge, most of the waters flow from south to north. Ferries from Hampshire sail to the mouths of all of these rivers except the Newtown River.

Answer: Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands can be found far away on the other side of England, off the Kent coast. Meanwhile back at Padstow, the most notorious of the three sandbars is the Doom Bar, which has wrecked many ships over the years. Dredging has not succeeded in removing it, although comparing maps over the years it does appear to have moved from one side of the estuary to the other.

The Doom Bar is caused not by silt from the river flowing to the sea, but by the tides and winds from the ocean bringing sand into the estuary and the local geography influencing how these interact.

The other two sand banks are upstream of the Doom Bar but also appear to be supplied with silt from the ocean tides far more than the river. Doom Bar is also the name of a beer from a brewery situated in Cornwall, it is named after the sandbank but I have to say that is about as far as the connection goes, it certainly doesn't taste sandy.

Answer: River Thames

These rivers and many others are all tributaries of the River Thames, and further all originate to the south of the river. The River Mole has its headwaters close to Gatwick Airport deviating from its northward course to find a gap through the North Downs before heading north again to meet the Thames close to Hampton Court. The two branches of the River Wey meet in Surrey, flow east to Godalming then head north north-east joining the Thames at Weybridge.
The River Wandle is about 10 miles long and rises in south London. As with many rivers in urban areas, sections of it are now covered over but once it leaves Wandle Park in Croydon it is almost all open to the air until it joins the Thames in Wandsworth.
The Hogsmill River is even shorter at around 6 miles long from Ewell and meeting the Thames close to Teddington Lock.
The final tributary listed is the River Darent which joins the Thames to the east of London. More precisely it joins the river adjacent to the Dartford Marshes having started its journey 20 miles to the south in Kent close to Winston Churchill's former home of Chartwell.

Answer: Medway

The River Medway rises in Sussex and heads east all the way into Kent until it reaches Maidstone. From here it heads north until it flows in to the Thames estuary between the Isles of Grain and Sheppey. The Medway is not a tributary of the Thames but Edmund Spencer did describe it as the bride of the Thames in his poem "The Fairie Queen". The battle of Medway was a Roman victory, they surprised the Britons with a small force swimming across the river and launching an attack.

The resulting commotion enabled the main attack to cross the river on rafts. That is at least the myth.

It is not certain if this is the location or the river involved in the battle. It is however the site of the memorial.

Answer: Essex

Essex is one of the driest counties in England and Abberton Reservoir one of the largest reservoirs in England. The feeder stream for it doesn't provide anything like the amount of water required so since the creation of Abberton Reservoir, water has been extracted from elsewhere. Following the enlargement of the reservoir in the first decade of the 21st century, water is taken from the River Great Ouse and flows (or is pumped) through channels and pipes to the River Stour.

Then it is abstracted again further downstream to feed reservoirs in Essex, including Abberton. The reservoir is also an important site for birds and when I visited I saw flocks of tufted ducks (several hundred) and coots (at least a hundred).

Answer: Thurso

Whether the river is named after the town or vice versa I am unable to discover. Thurso (the town) is the northernmost town on the mainland of Great Britain. John o'Groats is slightly further north but is a village not a town. Dunnet Head, the most northly point of mainland Britain, also lies nearby.
Glasgow sits on the west flowing River Clyde, and Wick sits at the mouth of the easterly flowing Wick River.

Answer: River Eden

There are several River Edens in the UK. One is a tributary of the Medway; another is the one we are concerned with here.
This river rises on the boundary of Cumbria and Yorkshire and flows northward for most of its 80 miles with a few westward sections around Carlisle. Soon after Carlisle it enters the Solway Firth.

Answer: River Conwy

As the River Conwy (or in Welsh, Afon Conwy) reaches the sea, sandbanks direct the channel to the west at low tide. Looking at the map suggests that there used to be a channel carrying on north across what is now Conwy Sands. This area is underwater at high tide so the river will be flowing north when it meets the sea.
The other three options all arise on the same mountain in mid Wales. The Severn and the Wye head south and meet in the Severn estuary, while the Rheidol heads to the west with its mouth at Aberystwyth.

Answer: River Teviot

The River Teviot rises to the south of Teviotdale, on the northern flank of "Merry Law", the source is marked by the "Teviot Stone". Studying the maps this appears to be a quarter of a mile way to the west of the last point the river is shown.
The River Tweed, which the Teviot feeds into, runs east from Kelso flowing in to the North Sea at Berwick upon Tweed.
The "Border Abbeys Way" is a circular route of around 65 miles, Kelso being the north eastern extremity. The section from Hawick to Kelso does detour several miles from the Teviot to take in the abbey at Jedburgh before a section along a disused railway line and then returning to the bank of the river.
The Rivers Tees and Wear both have sources close to Cross Fell in the Pennines. The South Tyne does also whilst the North Tyne (which it meets at Hexham) has its origins in the hills above Kielder Water.

Answer: Yell (Shetlands)

Gloup Voe is on the island of Yell, the most northerly of the options. Sanday is the third largest of the Orkneys but has no noticeable north flowing waterways. Rona (sometimes referred to as North Rona) is a very remote uninhabited island to the north of Scotland. No streams are identified on the Ordnance Survey maps. The Isle of Lewis has some north flowing waters but no voes.