| Alport | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Region | Derbyshire |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Bleaklow,England |
| Mouth | |
• location | Derbyshire,England |
• coordinates | 53°24′09″N1°47′19″W / 53.402518°N 1.788492°W /53.402518; -1.788492 |
| Length | 9 km (5.6 mi) |
TheRiver Alport flows for 5.6 miles (9 km) in theDark Peak of thePeak District inDerbyshire, England. Its source is onBleaklow, 3 miles (4.8 km) east ofGlossop, from which it flows south through the Grains in the Water bog, then overgritstone below theAlport Castleslandslide to Alport Bridge on theA57Snake Pass route fromSheffield toManchester, where it joins theRiver Ashop. The Ashop flows intoLadybower Reservoir about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) down the valley, which discharges via the RiversDerwent andTrent to theNorth Sea. The source of the Alport is close to the Penninewatershed.
The course of the river includes three smallwaterfalls. At its southern end lie the remains of atunnel constructed to carry water to a planned but unbuiltcotton mill. A weir was built on the river in about 1922 and a short watercourse added to feed the water into the Ashop weir located upstream of the confluence. The water was then culverted along the valley to the AshopSiphon near Hagg Farm, where it then crossed over the River Ashop in a 6-foot-diameter (1.8 m) steel pipe 273 yards (250 m) long, passed through a 1,065-yard (974 m) tunnel under the hill and then via another open watercourse of 761 yards (696 m) to discharge into theDerwent Reservoir a few yards north of the dam wall. The outlet is visible from the viewing area.[1]
The valley of the Alport contains some farmland, but the banks of the valley are mostly coniferous plantations andheath. The coniferous plantations are being converted to semi-natural deciduous woodland.[2] The smallhamlet ofAlport lies on the west bank near the southern end of the river.
The Environment Agency assesses the water quality within the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties ofinvertebrates,angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[3]
The water quality of the River Alport catchment was as follows in 2019/2022:
| Section | Ecological Status | Chemical Status | Length | Catchment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alport Catchment (trib of Ashop)[4] | Good | Fail | 3.1 miles (5.0 km) | 4.38 square miles (11.3 km2) |
Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, because of the presence ofpolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), which had not previously been included in the assessment.[5]
53°24′09″N1°47′19″W / 53.4025°N 1.7886°W /53.4025; -1.7886