River Wansbeck

The River Wansbeck runs through the county of Northumberland, England. It rises above Sweethope Lough on the edge of Forelaws Forest in the area known locally as The Wanneys (Great Wanney Crag, Little Wanney Crag; thus the "Wanneys Beck"); runs through the town of Ashington before discharging into the North Sea at Sandy Bay near Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

The River flows through the village of Kirkwhelpington, the town of Morpeth, and the village of Mitford, where it is joined by a small tributary, the River Font.

The River Wansbeck is nicknamed the River Wanney. The term 'The Wilds of Wanney' is used by people of Tyneside to refer to the rural areas of Northumberland where the Wansbeck rises.


The River lent its name to the former Wansbeck district which was based in Ashington, and included Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Bedlington and Stakeford.

Famous quotes containing the word river:

    the folk-lore
    Of each of the senses; call it, again and again,
    The river that flows nowhere, like a sea.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)