Trent

Third longest river of England; length 275 km/170 mi. Rising in the south Pennines (at Norton in the Moors) by the Staffordshire-Cheshire border, it flows south and then northeast through Derbyshire, along the county boundary of Leicestershire, and through Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, joining the Ouse east of Goole to form the Humber estuary, and entering the North Sea below Spurn Head. Its drainage basin covers more than 10,000 sq km/4,000 sq mi. Main tributaries are the Churnet, Dove, and Derwent.

It is navigable by barge for nearly 160 km/100 mi.

The principal towns and cities along its course are Burton upon Trent, Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham, and Newark. It is connected with other rivers and with the Birmingham and Lancashire districts by the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Grand Union Canal. The Trent valley includes extensive gravel workings and many electric power stations.