River Till

Coordinates: 55°27′14″N 2°08′42″W / 55.454°N 2.145°W / 55.454; -2.145

The River Till in Northumberland is the only tributary of the River Tweed which flows wholly in England. (A section of the Whiteadder Water, which is otherwise Scottish, also flows through England). The upper part of the Till, which rises on Comb Fell, is known as the River Breamish.

Its tributaries include Wooler Water, which originates in the Cheviot Hills, and the River Glen in Glendale. It meets the Tweed near Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Twizel Viaduct. According to local folklore:

Recent environmental projects have included an attempt to conserve the native brown trout.

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River Till, Wiltshire

The River Till is a river that rises near Tilshead on Salisbury Plain, and which flows south and south-east to join the River Wylye near Stapleford. It also flows through Shrewton and Winterbourne Stoke. It has been designated as a SSSI site.

The name ‘River Till’ is a double misnomer, firstly because this is not a river but a winterborne – i.e. a winter stream that only flows for approximately three months in a year. Secondly because the name ‘Till’ is a Victorian misunderstanding. At some point the false leap of logic was made that because the winterbourne flows from the village of Tilshead this meant it was the head of the Till. In fact Tilshead arises from Tydolfshide, i.e. the hide of land belonging to Tydolf.

Even as recently as the early 20th century the winterbourne was known, in Shrewton at least, as ‘the Waterlake’, rather than the Till.