Bessy Brook
Joins the Croal above Farnworth, its highest gauge, no more than 10.6 km by river above Farnworth.
| Bessy Brook | 0.02 m 22m ago | Low |
Its water passes every gauge on the Croal, from Farnworth down.
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Live levels from 1 monitoring station across Greater Manchester, updated every 15 minutes.
| Station | Level now | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Farnworth | 0.08 m 22m ago | Normal |
Stations are listed from source to mouth as the water flows, traced on the river map (OS Open Rivers) and the Environment Agency’s own links between its gauges. A distance “by river” is along the river, and is shown only where the map traces the path.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.
Streams and rivers with a gauge whose water joins the Croal above one of its gauges, from the source down. Named streams without a gauge that have a page here are listed at the end.
Joins the Croal above Farnworth, its highest gauge, no more than 10.6 km by river above Farnworth.
| Bessy Brook | 0.02 m 22m ago | Low |
Its water passes every gauge on the Croal, from Farnworth down.
Joins the Croal above Farnworth, its highest gauge, no more than 11.2 km by river above Farnworth.
| Threadfold Way | 0.20 m 22m ago | Normal |
Its water passes every gauge on the Croal, from Farnworth down.
Below Farnworth, its water next reaches Kearsley, a gauge on River Irwell, 2.5 km by river downstream.
Tributaries and where they join are traced on the river map (OS Open Rivers, edition 2026-04) and the Environment Agency’s links between its gauges. The map holds distances between gauges, not the junctions themselves, so a junction is placed between two gauges, and no further up than the tributary’s own lowest gauge. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.
58 storm overflows are traced upstream of Farnworth, the Croal’s lowest gauge on the river map: on the Croal itself, on its gauged tributaries, and on smaller streams that join above there.
Official figures for 2025, for the overflows traced upstream of Farnworth: 1,290 spills over 4,086 hours in total, across all 58.
Each overflow is listed in the stretch above the first gauge its water reaches, from the source down, as on the Gauges tab. A stretch of the Croal includes the smaller streams that join it there. Every overflow traced is listed here, each stretch in full. Back to the short lists →
Within 3 km of one of the Croal’s gauges in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water reaches it.
11 other overflows within 3 km of these gauges are placed below the Croal’s lowest gauge or on another river, so not listed.
A status is the water company’s own monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, never how much or why, and a spill does not by itself explain a change in a river level. A status older than two hours is shown as unknown. Annual figures are the official returns: 12/24-hour spills for England and Wales, overflow events for Scotland (Scottish Water counts differently, so the two cannot be compared). “No data” means the monitor produced no usable data that year, not zero. Overflows are placed on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels: an overflow the map cannot place may still drain here. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026. Sewage in Britain’s rivers →
Live status: © United Utilities storm overflow activity data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Annual figures for England: Environment Agency Event Duration Monitoring return, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Dated samples taken by the Environment Agency, not live readings. Results are published days to months after the sample is taken, and many points are sampled only a few times a year, or have not been sampled for years.
38 sampling points on the River Croal and the streams that join it above Farnworth. 12 have a sample from the last 12 months; 16 have any sample banked. Listed from the source down, grouped by the next gauge each one's water reaches.
| Sampling point | Watercourse (map) | Above the gauge | Last sample | Latest results (river water) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagley Brook at Belmont Works Egerton Road | Eagley Brook | 6.3 km | Last sampled 15 Oct 2015, before the imported period | |
| Eagley Brook at Feeder Stream off Reservoir to Charles Turner | Eagley Brook | 5.8 km | Last sampled 17 Dec 2013, before the imported period | |
| Eagley Brook upstream of Belmont Etw | Eagley Brook | 5.6 km | 4 Aug 2026 · 2 months ago | Oxygen 99.3%Temp 17.1 °CpH 7.69Ammonia 0.049 mg/l |
| Eagley Bk at Footbridge downstream of Belmont | Eagley Brook | 4.2 km | Last sampled 22 Dec 2022, before the imported period | |
| Eagley Brook below Charles Turner, upstream of Delph Brook | Eagley Brook | 2.7 km | 20 Mar 2026 · 7 months ago | Oxygen 104.3%Temp 8.6 °CpH 7.67Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Eagley Brook downstream of Charles Turner | Eagley Brook | 2.7 km | Last sampled 1 Dec 2009, before the imported period | |
| Delph Brook 50 m downstream of Longworth Road Bridge | Delph Brook | 2.5 km | 4 Aug 2026 · 2 months ago | Oxygen 97.1%Temp 16.2 °CpH 7.63Ammonia 0.0085 mg/l |
| Eagley Brook at Dunscar Bridge | Eagley Brook | 1.0 km | Last sampled 12 Jun 2013, before the imported period | |
| Gale Brook at Blackburn Road Bridge | Gale Brook | 0.8 km | Last sampled 4 Dec 2014, before the imported period |
| Sampling point | Watercourse (map) | Above the gauge | Last sample | Latest results (river water) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadshaw Brook downstream of A666 | Cadshaw Brook | 18 km | 5 Dec 2024 · 22 months ago | Oxygen 100.7%Temp 7.3 °CpH 5.99Ammonia 0.013 mg/l |
| Broadhead Brook upstream of Wayoh Bridge, Turton | Broadhead Brook | 16 km | 16 Apr 2026 · 6 months ago | Oxygen 103.8%Temp 10.8 °CpH 8Conductivity 125 µS/cm |
| Wheatsheaf Brook near Hob Lane | Wheatsheaf Brook | 15 km | 4 Aug 2026 · 2 months ago | Oxygen 73.2%Temp 16.3 °CpH 7.55Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Quarlton Brook above the confluence with Bradshaw Brook | Quarlton Brook | 13 km | Last sampled 19 Dec 2006, before the imported period | |
| Quarlton Brook at Gardens Turton Bottoms | Quarlton Brook | 13 km | 10 Dec 2024 · 22 months ago | Oxygen 101.1%Temp 5.5 °CpH 7.57Ammonia 0.069 mg/l |
| Bradshaw Brook downstream of Inlet to Jumbles | Bradshaw Brook | 12 km | 27 May 2026 · 4 months ago | Oxygen 103.3%Temp 16 °CpH 7.75Conductivity 171 µS/cm |
| Eagley Brook at Hough Lane | Eagley Brook | 11 km | Last sampled 27 Nov 2014, before the imported period | |
| Bradshaw Brook at Front Wood Footbridge | Bradshaw Brook | 11 km | Last sampled 27 Nov 2014, before the imported period | |
| Middle Brook at Heaton Bridge Lostock | Middle Brook | 9.7 km | 13 Mar 2026 · 7 months ago | Oxygen 91.7%Temp 6.7 °CpH 8.01Ammonia 0.41 mg/l |
| Astley Brook at Weir | Astley Brook | 8.6 km | Last sampled 21 Mar 2017, before the imported period | |
| Middle Brook downstream of Ladybridge Lane Footbridge | Middle Brook | 8.6 km | 6 Dec 2024 · 22 months ago | Oxygen 86.9%Temp 7 °CpH 7.8Ammonia 0.3 mg/l Nov 2024 |
| Bradshaw Brook at Bradshaw Bridge | Bradshaw Brook | 8.5 km | 9 Jun 2026 · 4 months ago | Oxygen 98.7%Temp 11.3 °CpH 7.91Conductivity 180 µS/cm |
| Middle Brook near Atkinson's Farm | Middle Brook | 8.2 km | Last sampled 1 Feb 2008, before the imported period | |
| Eagley Brook above confluence with Astley Brook | Eagley Brook | 7.3 km | 4 Aug 2026 · 2 months ago | Oxygen 99.6%Temp 16.6 °CpH 7.71Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Astley Brook above confluence with Eagley Brook | Meeting of the Waters | 7.3 km | 14 Mar 2024 · 2.6 years ago | Oxygen 99.2%Temp 8.5 °CpH 7.92Ammonia 0.035 mg/l |
| Middle Brook at Fern Street Footbridge | Middle Brook | 7.2 km | 27 Mar 2026 · 6 months ago | Oxygen 95.9%Temp 8.6 °CpH 7.6Ammonia 0.22 mg/l |
| Croal Minor 5 m upstream of Captains Clough Brook | River Croal | 5.9 km | 27 Mar 2026 · 6 months ago | Oxygen 99.6%Temp 8.8 °CpH 7.78Ammonia 0.16 mg/l |
| River Tonge at Metro Engineering Footbridge | River Tonge | 5.4 km | Last sampled 30 May 2022, before the imported period | |
| Bradshaw Brook at Kingfisher Bridge, Seven Acres Country Park | Bradshaw Brook | 5.3 km | Last sampled 14 Dec 2016, before the imported period | |
| Bradshaw Brook above confluence with Tonge | Bradshaw Brook | 3.4 km | 14 Sep 2026 · 24 days ago | Oxygen 100.1%Temp 15.8 °CpH 7.29Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l Aug 2026 |
| River Tonge above confluence with Croal Minor | River Tonge | 3.0 km | Last sampled 20 Apr 2010, before the imported period | |
| Croal Minor above confluence with Tonge | River Croal | 2.6 km | Last sampled 5 Mar 2020, before the imported period | |
| Blackshaw Brook at Dove Bank Bridge (B6209) | Blackshaw Brook | 1.6 km | Last sampled 7 Jan 2008, before the imported period | |
| Blackshaw Brook upstream of LCC Top Tanks at Footbridge upstream of Hall Lane Tip | Blackshaw Brook | 1.2 km | Last sampled 27 Feb 2008, before the imported period | |
| River Croal at Hacken Bridge | River Croal | 1.2 km | Last sampled 19 Jun 2002, before the imported period | |
| Blackshaw Brook downstream of 1st Leachate Outbreak | Blackshaw Brook | 1.2 km | Last sampled 27 Feb 2008, before the imported period | |
| Blackshaw Brook between Tanks at Hall Lane Tip | Blackshaw Brook | 1.0 km | Last sampled 27 Feb 2008, before the imported period | |
| Blackshaw Brook downstream of LCC Tanks, Hall Lane Tip | Blackshaw Brook | 0.8 km | Last sampled 17 Feb 2017, before the imported period | |
| Blackshaw Brook above confluence with Croal | Blackshaw Brook | 0.5 km | Last sampled 27 Feb 2008, before the imported period |
Distances are along the river to the gauge named. England's samples only.
FloodRadar does not grade these results: there is no overall score, and official river classifications are a separate dataset. A sample taken downstream of an overflow does not by itself show where anything in it came from. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels.
Water samples: Environment Agency Water Quality Archive, © Environment Agency and/or database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.
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