Editing River Manifold

{{Short description|River in Staffordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox river
  | name              = Manifold
  | image             = Manifold valley (from Thors Cave).jpg
  | image_size        = 250
  | image_caption     = Manifold Valley from Thor's Cave
  | source1_location  = South of [[Buxton]] near [[Axe Edge]]
  | mouth_location    = Confluence with the [[River Dove, Derbyshire|Dove]]
  | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|53|3|0|N|1|47|5|W|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
  | progression       = [[River Dove, Derbyshire|Dove]]—[[River Trent|Trent]]—[[Humber]]—[[North Sea]]
  | length_mi = 12
| source1_elevation = 
  | mouth_elevation   = 
  | discharge1_avg    = 
  | basin_size        = {{convert|9111|ha}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Manifold - Source to conf R Dove|url=http://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB104028052891|website=Environment Agency|access-date= 1 August 2016}}</ref>
  | tributaries_left  = 
  | tributaries_right = Oakenclough Brook, Warslow Brook, Hoo Brook, River Hamps
}}
[[File:Dry river Manifold.jpg|right|thumb|A bridge over a dry River Manifold, near [[Grindon, Staffordshire|Grindon]]]]

The '''River Manifold''' is a river in [[Staffordshire]], England. It is a [[tributary]] of the [[River Dove, Derbyshire|River Dove]] (which also flows through the [[Peak District]], forming the boundary between [[Derbyshire]] and Staffordshire).

The Manifold rises at Flash Head<ref name=":0" /> just south of [[Buxton]] near [[Axe Edge]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=River Manifold|url=http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/river-manifold-c1597.html|website=Peak District online|access-date=31 July 2016|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920220935/http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/river-manifold-c1597.html|url-status=live}}</ref> at the northern edge of the [[White Peak]], known for its [[limestone]] beds. It continues for {{convert|12|mi}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bridgland|first1=David|last2=Howard|first2=Andy|last3=White|first3=Mark|last4=White|first4=Tom|title=Quaternary of the Trent|date=2014|publisher=Oxbow Books|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-78297-026-2|page=362|chapter=6 Synthesis: the Pleistocene evolution and human occupation of the Trent catchment}}</ref> before it joins the Dove. For part of its course, it runs underground (except when in spate), from [[Wetton Mill]] to [[Ilam, Staffordshire|Ilam]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Jacklin|first1=Tim|title=Advisory visit to the River Manifold, Derbyshire|url=http://www.wildtrout.org/sites/default/files/private/Manifold2008.pdf|website=The Wild Trout Trust|page=2|access-date=31 July 2016|format=PDF|date=June 2008}}</ref> During this section it is joined by its major tributary, the [[River Hamps]].

Villages on the river include [[Longnor, Staffordshire|Longnor]], [[Hulme End]]  and [[Ilam, Staffordshire|Ilam]].

Its name may come from [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] ''manig-fald'' = "many folds", referring to its [[meander]]s.

==Manifold Way==
{{main|Manifold Way}}

The Manifold Way is an {{convert|8|mi|adj=on}} [[long-distance footpath]] and cycle track from [[Hulme End]] to [[Waterhouses, Staffordshire|Waterhouses]], along the former route of the narrow-gauge (2' 6") [[Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway]] which operated between 1904 and 1934.<ref>{{cite web|title=River Manifold|url=http://www.peakdistrictinformation.com/features/manifold.php|website=Peak District Information|access-date=31 July 2016|archive-date=7 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507040007/http://www.peakdistrictinformation.com/features/manifold.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Opened in July 1937 after the LMS handed over the trackbed to Staffordshire County Council, it is tarmacked throughout.

The Manifold Valley Visitor Centre is housed in Hulme End Station, which also has a model of the railway.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Manifold Valley & Manifold Trail|url=http://hulmeend.co.uk/manifoldvalley.htm|website=Hulmeend.co.uk|access-date=31 July 2016}}</ref>

==Limestone crags and caves==
{{Citation needed paragraph|date=February 2022}}The limestone cliffs that fringe the valley contain several rock-climbing areas, and named rock features, including [[Thor's Cave]] ({{gbmapping|SK098549}}) and [[Beeston Tor]] ({{gbmapping|SK105540}}), which overlooks the confluence with the River Hamps.

==Mining in the Manifold valley==

The Manifold valley was famous for the mining of copper and lead, and the mines at [[Ecton Mines|Ecton]] were some of the richest in the country. The discovery of [[Stone Age]] implements in some of the caves imply that minerals were mined around the Manifold valley thousands of years ago. Nowadays there is little trace of the industry that made many people (mainly the [[Duke of Devonshire]] who at one time owned the [[Ecton mines]]) very rich.<ref name=":1" /> The main areas of interest are around Ecton where the old spoil banks and the old engine house still remain.

==Ecology==
The river has been noted as being important for [[European bullhead]] and [[lamprey]]. In the underground section of the river where it resurfaces at Ilam, the bullhead have no pigmentation. It was previously a stronghold for [[white-clawed crayfish]], but most of the river's population were wiped out by [[crayfish plague]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rare crayfish wiped out in River Manifold|url=http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/rare-crayfish-wiped-river-manifold/story-12476560-detail/story.html|access-date=31 July 2016|work=Stoke Sentinel|date=4 August 2008}}</ref> Crayfish have been noted in the tributaries of the Manifold and it is hoped that re-colonisation can be achieved by the surviving upstream crayfish.

==See also==
*[[List of rivers in the Peak District]]
*[[Rivers of the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{More citations needed|date=August 2016}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|River Manifold}}
* [http://www.staffspasttrack.org.uk/ Staffordshire Past Track project: historical photos]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manifold}}
[[Category:Rivers of Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Rivers of Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Rivers and valleys of the Peak District]]
[[Category:Dove catchment|1Manifold]]