Talk:River Avon, Bristol/GA1

GA Review

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: Looking forward to reviewing this article. Llywrch (talk · contribs) 22:02, 24 June 2015 (UTC)

Comments

I found this clear & well written, & covers everything that one would expect to find here. (As a datum, I walked along the Avon in 1984, from Bath upstream through the Avon Gorge to Bradford-on-Avon, & every item of interest I could remember is covered in this article.) There are a few points, though, worth mentioning:

• In the section "Etymology", there is a footnote that cites a page on the website archeology.ws. That page is a collection of alternative etymologies of various ancient British place names which (IMHO) feels fringey & doesn't help support the point that "Avon" is a common place name in Britain. I suggest you remove it.

• Removed.— Rod ^talk 07:12, 30 June 2015 (UTC)
  • OK. -- llywrch (talk) 22:46, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

• Bradford is described as a former center of the wool industry? Are there any existing mill structures along the river? (I ask because I vaguely remember that woolen mills often used water power to drive their machinery.) If there are any, I don't remember seeing them back when I was in the area, but my attention was on confirming evidence of older habitation.

• I am not aware of any. The article on Bradford on Avon says "The last local mill closed in 1905. Many have since stood empty and some became derelict."— Rod ^talk 07:12, 30 June 2015 (UTC)
  • That's good enough. -- llywrch (talk) 22:46, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

• All rivers flood, some more often than others. (For example, the Willamette, which flows thru my home city, floods about once a generation; I was here to witness its 1964 & 1996 floods.) A list of recorded major floods in the "History" section is something readers would understandably expect to find here. In the article there is a passing reference to a flood of 1799/1800 damaging Pulteney Bridge; I did a quick search on Google & the only other flood on record was the one in 2014. (I don't know just how serious that flood was.) A short paragraph mentioning the 1799/1800 one & its effects on the inhabitants would meet this need.

• I will do some more searching on this later. The 2014 one which comes up on the google search was largely tidal, so only affected the Bristol end but the whole area was affected by severe flooding (see Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels). Bath says "The floodplain of the Avon, on which the city centre is built, has an altitude of about 59 ft (18 m) above sea level. The river, once an unnavigable series of braided streams broken up by swamps and ponds, has been managed by weirs into a single channel. Periodic flooding, which shortened the life of many buildings in the lowest part of the city, was normal until major flood control works were completed in the 1970s." I will do more searching later.— Rod ^talk 07:12, 30 June 2015 (UTC)
  • Uh, does this mean you're going to make the change, or you want some time to research it first? (As I said, just mentioning the 1799/1800 flood in the "History" section ought to be enough by itself -- unless you know of some other major/historic floods.) -- llywrch (talk) 22:46, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

• Give me a day or two to check for any others and probably mention of the 2014 floods in Bristol and I will add anything I find & let you know here.— Rod ^talk 06:28, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

• I've now added the bits mentioned above and some wider bits on the flood risk and management on the river.— Rod ^talk 20:54, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

• Good additions, but what I was hoping to see was a paragraph added to the "History" section reading along the lines of: "The Avon has flooded several times in its recorded history. These floods include the one in 1799/1800 damaging Pulteney Bridge." Yes, this paragraph does repeat information provided above, but for odd readers like me who sometimes can't find information that is in the article because it's not where I expect to find it. (Note: I am not suggesting you move it from that part of the article to the "History" section, but to repeat it in that section.) -- llywrch (talk) 07:25, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

• I've moved some bits around to create a final paragraph of history abut flooding - is this what you meant?— Rod ^talk 20:43, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

• Good. Passing. Thank you for putting up with the peculiarities of my review process. -- llywrch (talk) 01:55, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Other than those three concerns, I think this is a solid article worthy of GA status. -- llywrch (talk) 21:05, 29 June 2015 (UTC)

Move

Move River Avon, Bristol to River Avon as it is the overwhelmingly primary usage. 2A02:C7F:31CF:6400:4D65:7B99:AD72:5BC6 (talk) 18:09, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

Just not true - I had cause to search 'River Avon' earlier and the Stratford Avon came up equally often (and is arguably more well-known through the bard's connections). Geopersona (talk) 11:10, 1 December 2021 (UTC)