Editing River Chess (section)

== River course ==
[[File:RiverChessUK.jpg|thumb|Looking upstream, at Chenies]]
The River Chess fall is {{convert|60|m|order=flip}}, and its length is {{convert|11|mi}}. It is fed by groundwater held in the chalk [[aquifer]] of the Chiltern Hills and rises from three [[spring (hydrosphere)|springs]] which surface as Vale Brook, from Bury Pond, and alongside the Missenden Road near [[Pednor]] just to the north of Chesham.<ref name=RChessassn>[http://www.riverchessassociation.co.uk/news/45/57/The-Mystery-of-Abstraction-Flooding-in-the-Chesham-Vale.html River Chess Association], Accessed 14 May 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42547 History on line - Chesham], Accessed 14 May 2014</ref> It flows within culverts beneath the town before flowing in a southeasterly direction through [[Waterside, Buckinghamshire|Waterside]]. The river flows below parkland landscaped by [[Capability Brown]] at [[Latimer House]] and the site of a 1st century [[Roman villa]] close to the village of [[Latimer, Buckinghamshire|Latimer]]; to the north of [[Chenies]]; through unimproved [[water meadows]] at Frogmore and the watercress beds at Sarratt Bottom to the west of [[Sarratt]]. The Chess flows under the [[M25 motorway]] at Solesbridge Lane, before passing through the private housing estate of [[Loudwater, Hertfordshire|Loudwater]], whose name was historically associated with the river at this point. Below this the river passes several disused [[water mill]]s which supplied power and water for [[paper]] manufacture during the 18th and 19th centuries. At [[Rickmansworth]] it joins the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|River Colne]] to the east of the town. The river banks are mostly not public rights of way, and only small stretches of the river are accessible. It is navigable only in its lower reaches.<ref name="riverchesswalk">[https://www.chilternsaonb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Chess-Valley-Walk-Leaflet-For-Web.pdf The Chess Valley Walk]  [[Chiltern Hills|Chilterns AONB]], Accessed 15 January 2023</ref>