Spring Has Sprung & 10 Facts About the River Mole

I don't live by the River Thames any more. I've only moved to the next town and I'm still next to a river, a much smaller river, the River Mole. It's a tributary of the River Thames. Writing this blog post made me look up some more information about the River Mole and I discovered a lot of things I didn't know before (thanks to Wikipedia). Here are 10 facts about the River Mole:

1. Its source is in Baldhorns Copse (approx 5 miles away from Gatwick)
2. The River Mole is 50 miles long
3. It joins the Thames at Hampton Court, opposite the palace
4. It used to be heavily polluted but now has the greatest diversity of fish species of any river in England (would like to know if this is really true!)
5. Depending on the stretch of the Mole you can find Barbel, Roach, Chub, Pike, Carp, Perch, Crayfish, Dace, Eel & Bleak.
6. It runs through many towns including: Crawley, Horley, Dorking, Leatherhead, Esher and most importantly Hersham!
7. Has areas that are designated Special Area of Conservation & Special Areas of Scientific Interest.
8. Floods quickly in heavy rainfall because part of it runs through non permeable ground including clay.
9. It's only been called The Mole since the 16th Century. The name Mole either comes from the Latin mola (a mill) or is derivative of the place-name Molesey (Mul's island). Before that it was known as Emen/ Æmen (AD 983 -1005). In the Domesday Book it appears as Amele. This name is probably comes from the Old English word æmen meaning misty or causing mists.
10. The bridge in Hersham/Esher is called the Albany Bridge named after the Duchess of Albany from Claremont. The original bridge was wooden and Victorian and the current bridge was built in 1965.

I also found this interesting blog all about the River Mole by a man called Rod who blogs about his journey along the River Mole from source to its confluence with River Thames.

Last week we went for a little stroll along a short section of the River Mole. Although the air was fresh and cold, the sun was out and there were many signs of spring.
As usual I was looking out for the kingfisher. I have only seen him/her once before.

All the photos, apart from the photos of me were taken with my Samsung Galaxy Mini S5.