River Esk, North Yorkshire

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For similarly named rivers, see River Esk.

River Esk
The River Esk near its mouth at Whitby
Origin	Westerdale Moor
Mouth	Whitby
Basin countries	England
Length	45 km

The River Esk is a river in North Yorkshire, England that empties into the North Sea at Whitby after a course of around 28 miles (45 km) through the valley of Eskdale, named after the river itself.

1 Overview
2 Settlements
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Overview

Due to its rural nature, the river is clean and healthy, supporting a wealth of wildlife. Samon spawn right up through Eskdale, and a number of "leaps" are provided to enable them to travel through weirs on the course. There are clearly visible examples at Ruswarp, where the tidal stretch through to Whitby begins and at Sleights. Around Whitby the Esk has a large population of Sea Trout, and the river is noted for freshwater pearl mussels, although these are threatened with extiction due to buildups of silt in the river.^[1]. The Esk is also the only major river in Yorkshire to drain directly into the North Sea^[2]

The river rises at the Esklets on Westerdale Moor in the North York Moors, flowing through Westerdale before merging with a large number of becks from the surrounding hills, including Tower, Baysdale, Sleddale, Danby, Great Fryup, Stonegate, Glaisdale and Murk becks. Running east through the valley known as Eskdale it leaves the moors via the villages of Sleights and Ruswarp, reaching the North Sea three miles later by bisecting the resort of Whitby.

Part way down the river at Danby bridge, there is a ford in which vehicles can get trapped.^[3]

Between the junction of Fryupdale and Lealholm the river passes through a narrow, steep sided and wooded valley known as Crunkly Ghyll. Here the river drops 100 feet (30 m) from the valley above to reach the village. Crunkly Ghyll was formed during the last great ice age as a huge wall of ice moved across the landscape carving out what is now the Esk Valley as far as Lealholm. At its head it formed a massive dam blocking the flow of water from above and creating a lake running back up the valley to Commondale. As the ice melted, the river forced its way out carving the ravine we see today. In Victorian times, the Ghyll was home to a large rockery garden, open to the public, but long since washed away by flooding of the river.

The small villages along the river were at one time of great industrial importance to the north east, with coal mined in the valleys, and iron ore dug from quarries on the surrounding moors. Today, all that remains are the deserted mine shafts, though potash is mined, near Boulby, with tunnels running six miles beneath the sea, some of the deepest in Europe.