The River Wreake is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is a tributary of the River Soar

River Soar

The River Soar is a tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands.-Description:It rises near Hinckley in Leicestershire and is joined by the River Sence near Enderby before flowing through Leicester , Barrow-on-Soar, beside Loughborough and Kegworth, before joining the Trent near...

. The river between Stapleford Park

Stapleford Park

Stapleford Park is a Grade I listed country house in Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England, now used as a hotel. It was originally the seat of the Sherard family, later the Earls of Harborough and from 1894, of Baron Gretton....

 and Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It is to the northeast of Leicester, and southeast of Nottingham...

 is known as the River Eye

River Eye, Leicestershire

The River Eye is a river in north eastern Leicestershire which becomes the Wreake.The Eye rises at Bescaby about six miles north east of Melton Mowbray. It flows east towards Saltby, where it turns south and flows past Sproxton, Coston and Garthorpe. At Saxby it turns west and flows by Stapleford,...

 and becomes the Wreake below Melton Mowbray.

It flows southwest, passing through Melton Mowbray, Asfordby, Frisby on the Wreake

Frisby on the Wreake

Frisby on the Wreake is a village in England located near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.The name of the village was coined by Danish invaders in the 9th or 10th centuries and refers to the farm or settlement of the Frisians. The "on the Wreake" suffix was added later to distinguish the village...

, Brooksby, Thrussington and Ratcliffe on the Wreake

Ratcliffe on the Wreake

Ratcliffe on the Wreake is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It is just to the north of the River Wreake, opposite East Goscote....

, before meeting the Soar near Syston

Syston

Syston is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population is 11,508 as of the 2001 Census.-Overview:...

. In its upper reaches it is called the River Eye and it becomes the Wreake below Melton Mowbray, near Sysonby Lodge.

The name Wreake was given by the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 invaders of Leicestershire, who probably navigated the River Trent, then the River Soar and finally into the Wreake as they entered the district. Their word Wreake indicated that the river followed a tortuous, twisting and turning course.

The river was canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

ised in the late 18th century, though after the building of the Syston and Peterborough railway in the mid 19th Century, the canal was disused and fell into ruin. Many of the diversions made to the river in order to make the canal navigable are still visible, especially in the neighbourhood of Hoby, Rotherby, Frisby on the Wreake, Kirby Bellars and Asfordby.

The Wreake is graded by the Environment Agency

Environment Agency

The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...

 as "B" quality, which is excellent for a Midlands river. Biotic index surveys report mayfly

Mayfly

Mayflies are insects which belong to the Order Ephemeroptera . They have been placed into an ancient group of insects termed the Palaeoptera, which also contains dragonflies and damselflies...

 and stonefly nymphs

Nymph (biology)

In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some invertebrates, particularly insects, which undergoes gradual metamorphosis before reaching its adult stage. Unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult. In addition, while a nymph moults it never enters a...

, caddis fly larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e, dragonfly

Dragonfly

A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...

 and damselfly

Damselfly

Damselflies are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest...

 nymphs and crayfish

Crayfish

Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...

. Among the fish are Perch

Perch

Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...

, Chubb

Chubb

-People:*Basil Chubb, Irish political scientist*Ian Chubb, Vice-chancellor of the Australian National University*Cecil Chubb, previous owner of Stonehenge*Ralph Chubb, British poet*Thomas Chubb, Britist Deist philosopher*Charles Chubb, British ornithologist...

, Pike, Minnows, Miller's Thumb, and Trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

. Otter

Otter

The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....

s are starting to repopulate the Wreake in its quieter stretches.

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