The Swale

The name "The Swale" refers to the strip of sea separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey.

Geography

Originally the Swale formed a conventional river. Before the formation of the English Channel about 6500 BC the eastern coast of Great Britain extended much further into the area of the present-day North Sea, and the Isle of Sheppey formed part of mainland Britain. The channel now occupied by the Swale comprised a river valley facing eastwards. As sea-levels rose, water occupied the whole length of the valley, dividing today's Isle of Sheppey from the mainland.

When the Romans arrived in Britain, the Swale extended much wider than it does today, with one part of the Isle of Sheppey — now called the Isle of Harty — a separate isle. The Isle of Harty no longer forms a separate island but the marshlands now gradually filling the channel delineate it. The channel needs constant dredging to allow use of the busy waterway.

The Swale is bridged at its western end by two bridges, the Kingsferry Bridge and the new Sheppey Crossing.

Nature

The Swale forms both a National Nature Reserve and a Special Protection Area: the eel grass, Ray's knotgrass, white seakale, glassworts and golden samphire support rare and uncommon migrant butterflies and moths, including the Essex emerald, the ground lackey, the clouded yellow butterfly and rare hawk-moths.

Birds

The Swale notably provides habitats for the following birds:
* Avocet "Recurvirostra avosetta" at least 17 percent of Great Britain's breeding population
* Marsh Harrier "Circus aeruginosus" at least 15 percent of Great Britain's breeding population
* Mediterranean Gull "Larus melanocephalus"
* Bar-tailed Godwit "Limosa lapponica"
* Eurasian Golden Plover "Pluvialis apricaria"
* Hen Harrier "Circus cyaneus"
* Ringed Plover "Charadrius hiaticula"
* Black-tailed Godwit "Limosa limosa islandica"
* Grey Plover "Pluvialis squatarola"
* Knot "Calidris canutus"
* Pintail "Anas acuta"
* Common Redshank "Tringa totanus"
* Shoveler "Anas clypeata"

Etymology

North Yorkshire also features a River Swale. Most definitions of the word "swale" indicate it to mean a 'depression in the ground to allow water to drain into'. Whether the names of two rivers have a common root remains unknown.

External links

* [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?NNR_ID=149 English Nature page]
* [http://www.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2041 Description of Special Protection Area]
*Map sources for gbmapping|TQ999666