River Alt - wikipedia River Alt River Alt River Alt in Croxteth Location of river mouth ( Hightown ) Country England County Merseyside City Liverpool Physical characteristics Main source 98 feet ( 30 m ) 53 ° 24 ′ 52.6 '' N 2 ° 49 ′ 55.5 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 53.414611 ° N 2.832083 ° W ﻿ / 53.414611 ; - 2.832083 River mouth 0 feet ( 0 m ) 53 ° 31 ′ 25.1 '' N 3 ° 03 ′ 50.4 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 53.523639 ° N 3.064000 ° W ﻿ / 53.523639 ; - 3.064000 Length 17 miles ( 28 km ) Discharge Average rate : 105.4 cu ft / s ( 2.984 m / s ) Basin features Basin size 40 square miles ( 103 km ) River Alt Legend Source Huyton Lane Culverted section Woofals Bridge A57 road Woolfall Heath Avenue Stock Bridge B5198 Culverted section - Stockbridge village Deysbrook Lane Coachmans Drive Hall Brook Oak Lane North Altcross Road Parkstile Lane A580 road Stone Bridge Sugar Brook Fazakerley Brook Stonebridge Lane Knowsley Brook Kirkby Brook A506 road Kirkby Branch Leeds Liverpool Canal Bull Bridge M57 motorway M58 motorway A59 road Moorhey Brook Netherton Brook Bridges Lane Dover 's Brook St Helen 's Gutter Maghull Brook Hunts Brook Maghull Hey Cop Main Sluice New Causeway ( Alt Bridge ) A565 road Little Altcar Bridge Southport Line Altmouth Pumping Station Tidal limit River mouth ( Mersey Estuary ) The River Alt is an urban river that flows across Merseyside in England. The river has suffered from heavy pollution from industry and sewage upstream and run - off from farmland in its lower reaches. It empties into the River Mersey, near to where the Mersey itself, flows into the Irish Sea. the river has benefited from clean - up schemes and a de-culverting process to improve its water quality and provide a better environment for wildlife. Contents 1 Route 1.1 Improvements 2 Settlements 3 Tributaries 4 Gallery 5 References 5.1 Sources 6 External links Route The Alt runs from Hag Plantation in Huyton at 125 ft ( 38 m ), through Croxteth Park, roughly follows the M57 motorway south of Kirkby, then flows north of Aintree and south of Maghull. Historically in Lancashire, it then runs south of Formby and empties into the Irish Sea, near the edge of the River Mersey estuary at Hightown. The Alts upper waters deriving from small streams and, in particular, one arising at Hag Plantation in Huyton. This is the location of the primary source of the river and is also the Huyton Wetlands Site of Biological Interest ( SBI ). The Alt then flows at a low gradient across an alluvium plain in a northwesterly direction before turning southwards and emptying into the River Mersey at Hightown between Crosby and Formby. The Alt 's catchment boundary reaches as far as Banks and Crossens in the north and out to Burscough and Kirkby in the east. It drains a catchment area of 40 square miles ( 103 km ) and flows a distance of 17 miles ( 28 km ) from source to the Mersey Estuary. The river flows through varying types of land : Sherwood Sandstone in the Huyton area, Coal Measures in the West Derby area and eventually Mercia Mudstone in the Maghull / North Sefton area. The estuary forms part of the Ribble and Alt Estuaries Special Protection Area for wildlife. The rivers name is of Latin origin ( meaning muddy river ) but the banks of the river are lined by villages and places with names of Viking derivation. Before the installation of tidal floodgates at Hightown in the 18th Century, the river was once called a `` troublesome little river '' its ever changing course cutting through the field boundaries, threatening roads and bridges and was rumoured to have wiped out the hamlet of Altmouth sometime between 1577 and 1713. However, studies of mapping have shown that there was never a village symbol at Altmouth on the maps, although one mapman stated there was a village there, but was unclear as to if was on the north or south side of the river mouth. Flooding along the river was a problem until the 1960s when work to straighten and canalise the river, plus the opening of pumping stations at Crossens in 1959 and Altmouth in 1972, ended the regular inundation of fields by water from the sources and from the sea. The river downstream of Maghull is rich agricultural land, but 20 square miles ( 52 km ) of it is below sea level and so requires the pumping stations to prevent tidal incursions into the river. The river was once well known for its fish and large quantities of eels were trapped upstream and in its tributaries. Flatfish like dabs, plaice and flounder were caught in the estuary and the tidal reaches, vast cockle beds were worked in the estuary. The river began to change in the early 20th century as Liverpool expanded and industry, then new housing began to grow along its banks. By the 1970s, the pollution had affected the river so much, it was listed as being class 3 or 4, which meant that apart from bloodworms, there was no life in the river. Part of this problem lies with when the river was culverted and housing was erected near to and over the river, the wastewater pipes from the dwellings were wrongly connected to discharge their water directly into the river. New sewage farms at Croxteth and Hillhouse plus modernisation to existing sewage farms and the decrease in heavy industry in Knowsley, Kirkby and Aintree began to clean up the river and by the early 1990s freshwater fish began to colonise the river from tributaries like Sudell Brook and Downholland Brook. By 2000, the river was well known among local anglers for its healthy population of pike, chub, bream, roach and sticklebacks. Herons, kingfishers and, in summer, egrets can often be seen in the water. In 2016, the Environment Agency released 9,000 fish into the river to replenish stocks. The Alt is still not clean due to its heritage as a handy dumping ground for sewage and industrial waste. Currently it has a moderate ecological rating but a fail rating for chemicals due to heavy metals in its silt. However, in 2006, the amount of wildlife that lived in and around the river earned it a clean bill of health from the Environment Agency. Improvements In 1996, a 460 - foot ( 140 m ) long, and a 98 - foot ( 30 m ) wide section of the river flowing through Knowsley, was rehabilitated from a straight, narrow stretch of water into a low floodplain where the water would spread out into several courses over the plain. The main channel was diverted and several smaller channels were created by the addition of berms to separate them. This has allowed plants to thrive and offers a floodplain where there was not one before. In June 2014, a new section of the river was de-culverted and was lengthened through the addition of bends to improve the river 's quality and also provide a greenspace for the nearby residents of Croxteth. Initially tied in with a development plan connected with Stonebridge Cross, the 980 - foot ( 300 m ) section was opened to daylight to create a meandering riverside that stretched to 2,850 - foot ( 870 m ) and would help when the river was in flood as well as improve the area for wildlife. Settlements Hightown Formby Great Altcar Ince Blundell Maghull Aintree Melling Waddicar Kirkby Knowsley Croxteth West Derby Huyton Tributaries Downholland Brook New Cut Bull Cop Sandy Brook Old Canal Fine Jane 's Brook Leather Barrow 's Ditch Cheshire Lines Brook Barton Brook Chisnall Brook Rough Brook Arnold 's Cop Main Sluice Tongue 's Watercourse Within 's Watercourse Lydiate Brook Carr Sluice Maghull Hey Cop Carr Sluice Hunt 's Brook Maghull Brook St. Helen 's Gutter ( as the Alt is known between Aintree and Maghull ) Dover 's Brook Whinny Brook Harrison 's Brook Netherton 's Brook Kirkby Brook Knowsley Brook Tue Brook Gallery Source of the Alt ; wetlands at Huyton Yachts moored at the mouth of the River Alt Maghull Brook The last open section of the Tue Brook Alt Pumping Station References Jump up ^ `` Pollution control on the River Alt '' ( PDF ). environmentdata.org. Environment Agency. March 1995. p. 2. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` A Troublesome Little River ''. Mike Royden 's Local History Pages. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2010. Jump up ^ `` Alt Crossens action plan 2000 - 2005 '' ( PDF ). environmentdata.org. Environment Agency. September 2000. p. 9. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Local Wildlife Sites and Local Geological Sites '' ( PDF ). knowsley.gov.uk. July 2013. p. 61. Retrieved 16 February 2018. ^ Jump up to : `` River Alt, Historic Liverpool ''. historic-liverpool.co.uk. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Alt ''. environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Alt US Bull Bridge ''. environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Alt DS Bull Bridge ''. environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Alt Crossens action plan 2000 - 2005 '' ( PDF ). environmentdata.org. Environment Agency. September 2000. p. 5. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Alt Crossens action plan '' ( PDF ). environmentdata.org. Environment Agency. October 1996. p. 28. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Sefton Coastal Road, Southport '' ( PDF ). floodready.co.uk. Sefton Council. p. 1. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Ribble and Alt Estuaries ''. jncc.defra.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ Ekwall, Eilert ( 1960 ). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place - names ( 4 ed. ). Oxford : Clarendon Press. p. 8. ISBN 0 - 19 - 869103 - 3. Jump up ^ Philbin - SOU, Paul ; Lopez, Jamie ( 16 January 2016 ). `` Norse placenames in Sefton and West Lancashire ''. Southport Visiter. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Townships : Formby British History Online ''. www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Altmouth Pumping Station '' ( PDF ). formbycivicsociety.org.uk. Formby Civic News. August 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Crossens Pumping Station '' ( PDF ). floodready.co.uk. Sefton Council. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Alt Crossens action plan '' ( PDF ). environmentdata.org. Environment Agency. October 1996. p. 12. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ TRAFF 1996, p. 2. Jump up ^ `` NCA Profile : 57 Sefton Coast - NE531 '' ( PDF ). publications.naturalengland.org.uk. 26 February 2014. p. 46. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ http://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB112069064500 Jump up ^ `` Roy bags 65lb net of roach on River Alt ''. Liverpool Echo. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Almost 2 million fish released into England 's rivers - GOV.UK ''. www.gov.uk. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Clean bill of health ''. Liverpool Echo. 16 March 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` Radical redesign from uniform, straight channel to a sinuous multi-channel river '' ( PDF ). therrc.co.uk. pp. 1 -- 6. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ Bartlett, David ( 9 January 2013 ). `` Merseyside 's River Alt diverted... for the Amazon ''. Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` River Alt Restoration Our work The Mersey Forest ''. www.merseyforest.org.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Jump up ^ `` The River Alt Project : Creation of a new river channel in a linear park '' ( PDF ). ecorestorationsolutions.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Sources The River Alt Fact File ( PDF ). environmentdata.org ( Report ). National Rivers Authority. 1996. Retrieved 16 February 2018. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to River Alt. Alt Crossens pumping stations history videos Firm fined for sewage pollution River Rehabilitation Scheme at Huyton River rehabilitation in an urban environment : examples from the Mersey Basin, North West England The River Alt flood management review Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=River_Alt&oldid=826060295 '' Categories : Rivers of Merseyside Hidden categories : Use British English from February 2018 Use dmy dates from February 2018 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Cebuano Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Simple English Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 16 February 2018, at 23 : 36. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where does the river alt start and end
Answer: Hag Plantation in Huyton at 125 ft (38 m)