EVERYBODY knows the River Mersey but few people know where it rises.

Actually, you will never find the source because the river only gets its name after it is already a substantial river in the middle of Stockport.

The name Mersey means "boundary river" and the river once marked the limits of Cheshire and Lancashire.

The Mersey is actually formed from three rivers, one of which is the Tame which I explored with the help of John Callaghan, Countryside Ranger at the Brownhill Visitors' Centre, at Dobcross, near Oldham.

John told me that the name Tame means "brown stream" and this obviously refers to the peat-stained waters on the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire. I explored this area and saw ring ouzel, red grouse and within a few days the cuckoos will have arrived in force. Also present in numbers were wheatears and skylarks. The Tame Valley between Uppermill and Stalybridge was an ideal site for watermills and later textile mills were built alongside the river.

The mills and dyeworks caused a great deal of pollution and the Tame almost, but not quite, died. The more I walk along the banks of our northern rivers the more I realise how resilient nature is and just how quickly it recovers. John Callaghan showed me areas of the river which are home to breeding dippers, grey wagtails and kingfishers, all of which are now residents. We also saw a pair of common sandpipers which are summer visitors.

We then went into the Brownhill Visitors' Centre, which is in great demand from school parties and all are made very welcome. I am not surprised folk enjoy it because at Brownhill there is a collection of stuffed animals which have all been found dead in the area. I always like to see creatures which have been killed on the road or died of natural causes used in such displays and not just allowed to rot away. On display were foxes and a mountain hare, which is white and therefore well camouflaged during the snow which lies late in these wild uplands. The white hare is common in Scotland but very rare and only seen in a few areas of England.

The most exciting display at Brownhill, however, is the artificial but very realistic badger's sett, which includes tape recordings of the badgers grunting and purring. Anyone wishing to enjoy a day at Brownhill can contact the warden on O16l 344 3306.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.