Maps and Info

River Trent Catchment

The River Tame is a tributary of the River Trent. The River Tame rises on the watershed between the River Severn and River Trent, in the area of the Midlands known as the Black Country.

The River Tame has two main sources, and these two tributaries, the Wolverhampton and Oldbury Arms, join at Bescot. From here, the river flows eastwards to the north of Birmingham City Centre. The River Rea joins the River Tame close to the Gravelly Hill M6 motorway junction. Continuing eastwards out of the West Midlands conurbation the river then turns north after its confluence with the Rivers Blythe, Cole and Bourne and flows into a series of purification lakes at Lea Marston. After the lakes, the Tame continues to flow northwards, entering the River Trent just east of Alrewas.

The focus for the SMURF project is the River Tame catchment upstream of the Lea Marston purification lakes. This area of the catchment is heavily urbanised, incorporating much of the West Midlands conurbation that includes Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall and parts of Wolverhampton, Solihull and Dudley.