Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/28

6 Settle, in that district of the county of York which is called Craven. After running underground for near a mile from its source, it issues from the base of a perpendicular rock 286 feet high, at the centre of a romantic amphitheatre of limestone called Malham Cove. The stream is at first inconsiderable, and from the magnificent scenery of the cove, whence it emerges, would be little noticed, particularly in dry seasons; but in winter, or when the tarn above is swollen by rains, the aperture at the base of the rocks is insufficient for the stream, and the water pours over the top of the cove in a vast sheet, little if at all inferior to many of the falls of America. From MaLham Cove, the Aire runs directly south, by the village of Aire Town, to Cold Coniston, thence turns easterly till it reaches Gargrave; from which place, having been considerably augmented by several lesser streams, now united with it, it pursues an easterly direction passing near to Skipton, by Kildwick, within a short distance of the town of Keighley, through Bingley and Shipley, which latter place is within three miles of Bradford; whence it proceeds, by the picturesque remains of Kirkstall Abbey, to Leeds, having given the name of Aire-dale to the beautiful valley through which it passes. Under the provisions of the act of William III. the date of which is given above, this river was made navigable to the tideway. The act is entitled, 'An Act for the  'making and keeping navigable the Rivers Aire and Calder, in the 'county of York.' 

From Leeds the Aire continues in an easterly direction by Temple Newsam, the seat of the Marchioness of Hertford, and Swillington Hall, the seat of Sir John Lowther, Bart. to Castleford, where it unites with the Calder. The two rivers, after their junction, continue to bear the name of Aire, and passing by Fryston Hall, Ferrybridge, Knottingley, Beal, Haddlesey, Weeland, Snaith and Rawcliffe, join the Ouse a little below the village of Armin, at a short distance from the town of Howden. The authority of the first act extending only to Weeland, the subsequent continuation of the navigation to the Ouse River was under a second act, the title of which will be recited in its proper place. The Aire is not navigable above Leeds; the length of the navigation, from Leeds to the junction with the Calder, is about eleven miles and a quarter, in which distance there is a fall of 43¾ feet by