The River Colne

I've decided to get to know the river Colne.

Here's what I know so far: I can see it from the kitchen window. I've walked beside it a few times. I've sat near it's eastern bank and read while waiting for laundry to wash. It's a tidal river. I like to guess, before I see it, how high the water will be. When it's very low, it's a small stream flowing through a wide mud valley. People live in houseboats on it. There are gulls and swans and ducks that float upon it. There's a big red ship tied to the doc just north a little ways. Reeds grow alongside the river and in them you can often find trash. There's a TV half-buried in the mud of the riverbed that's maybe 100 yards from the Quays if you walk towards Wivenhoe. Footpaths run parallel to it. Water flows into it near the industrial site to the southeast, creating foam. Just past Wivenhoe, there's a dam. There are some marshy areas. It meets the North Sea to the southeast just above Mersea.

I have yet to learn where it comes from, it's moods, how the tides work, what grows in it, how it's been used, how long the dam's been there, about its mud and the creatures that use it for food or transportation and things that I haven't even thought to wonder about it yet. Let the learning begin!