The
River Lagan
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Katie investigates the river
Katie kingfisher lives along the River
Lagan. She loves living there and
thinks she’s the luckiest bird alive to
have such a beautiful home. One day
she starts to think about her river
and she asks herself some questions.
• Where does the river start?
• Where does it end up?
• Does it change along the way?
• Who else lives along the Lagan?
Katie decides she’s going to go on an adventure to discover the Lagan!
Where do rivers come from?
Clouds form
Rain falls
• High up in the hills rain falls
from the clouds, the rain
water runs into lots of little
streams.
• These streams flow down the
mountains and get bigger as
they travel down the hills.
Water evaporates
Rivers flow
• A river is formed when lots
of these small streams join
together.
• Rivers end up in lakes or the
sea.
Katie finds out facts
Katie goes onto the internet and finds out some
interesting facts about the River Lagan…
The start of a river is called the source.
It is usually found in the hills or
mountains.
The end of a river is called the mouth.
The mouth of the River Lagan flows into
the sea.
The River Lagan is 60km long. It flows through towns such as
Lisburn and Belfast.
Katie and the source
Katie decides to visit the source of
the river. She knows it’s in the hills in
a place called ‘Slieve Croob’. She can’t
wait to see what she will find.
The Dromara Hills
near the Mournes
The source of the River Lagan
Katie can’t believe her eyes when
she’s told this tiny trickle of water
coming up from a spring is the source.
She thinks of her mighty Lagan
further downstream and feels very
confused.
How does the river become so big when it starts so small?
Katie discovers more river facts
The route a river takes from the
source to the mouth is called the
river course. Rivers don’t flow in
straight lines they twist and
turn through the surrounding
countryside. A big bend in a
river is called a meander.
This is what a river would
look like if you cut it in half.
B.
C.
A.
Meander
A. The bottom of a river is called
the river bed.
B. The side of a river is called the
river bank.
C. Where the water flows is called
the channel.
Map of the River Lagan
Katie finds a map of the river as it flows through the Lagan Valley
Regional Park. It passes through the towns of Lisburn and Belfast.
Can you spot where your school is?
People and the Lagan
Katie discovers that people have been living beside rivers for
thousands of years.
Why do you think people chose to live beside rivers in the past?
Drinking water
Transport
Bathing
Water for
growing food
Who lived along the Lagan?
Stone age man
7000BC
The mill workers
1700’s
The Normans
1200’s
Canal Folk
1700’s – 1950’s
Lagan Canal towpath
Katie discovers that in the 1700’s a canal was built from Lough
Neagh to Belfast. The canal was used for transporting goods to
and from the many industries dotted along the Lagan.
Beside the canal you can see a
towpath. Horses were used to
pull boats along the canal.
Lightermen
The Lightermen and their families usually lived on board the boat.
The job of the lighterman was to transport the cargo between
Belfast and Lough Neagh as quickly as possible.
What might their
cargo have been?
Cuts, locks and weirs
Sometimes the river
was too narrow, too
shallow or the bends
too sharp for boats to
pass through. Other
passageways known as
“cuts” were dug and
locks and weirs put in
place to regulate the
depth.
Lock keepers
Lock keepers were the people who
looked after the locks and made
sure that the boats got through
safely. The Lagan Navigation
Company, who owned the canal,
employed them and they were given
houses to live in, beside the locks,
as part of the job.
How do people use the
River Lagan today?
Canoeing
Fishing
Swimming
Watching
wildlife
Rowing
Walking along
the towpath
What kind of wildlife lives in
the Lagan?
Otters
Ducklings
Heron
Salmon
Eels
Dragonflies
Where the river ends
Katie has followed the course of the river through the Lagan Valley
Regional Park and she is wondering, “Where does it end?”
The River Lagan winds its way
to Belfast Lough.
Belfast Lough is still a major
port today, with lots of
passenger and cargo ferries.
What an AMAZING journey!
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