The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England. Arising from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington, Dorset, it flows northwest through the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the nature reserve at Bridgwater Bay on the Bristol Channel, draining about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area. The 37-mile-long (60 km) river is tidal for 27 miles (43 km) up to Oath. During the Roman era, the Parrett was crossed by a ford, and in Anglo-Saxon times formed a boundary between Wessex and Dumnonia. From the medieval period, the river served the Port of Bridgwater, enabling cargoes to be transported inland. The arrival of the railways led to a decline and now commercial shipping only docks at Dunball. Along with its connected waterways and network of drains, the Parrett supports an ecosystem that includes several rare species of flora and fauna. The River Parrett Trail has been established along the banks of the river.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Parrett> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1789: French Revolution: Upset about the high price and scarcity of bread, thousands of Parisian women and allies marched on the Palace of Versailles. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_March_on_Versailles> 1869: During construction of the Eastman tunnel in St. Anthony, Minnesota (now Minneapolis), the Mississippi River broke through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony Falls. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastman_tunnel> 1994: Swiss police found the bodies of 48 members of the Order of the Solar Temple, who had died in a cult mass murder-suicide. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Solar_Temple_massacres> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: formative: 1. Capable of forming something. 2. (biology) Capable of producing new tissue. 3. (linguistic morphology) Pertaining to the formation of words; specifically, of an affix: forming words through inflection. 4. Of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something. 5. (education) Of a form of assessment: used to guide learning rather than to quantify educational outcomes. 6. A thing which causes formation to occur. 7. (linguistic morphology) 8. A language unit, typically a morph, that has a morphological function (that is, forming a word from a root or another word). 9. Synonym of derivative (“a word that derives from another one”) <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/formative> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Today's world, as we all know, is faced with multiple threats. >From whichever angle I look at this menace, I always come to the conclusion that salvation can only come through a profound awakening of man to his own personal responsibility, which is at the same time a global responsibility. Thus, the only way to save our world, as I see it, lies in a democracy that recalls its ancient Greek roots: democracy based on an integral human personality personally answering for the fate of the community. --Václav Havel <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Havel> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
