Characteristics of the upper course of a river (near the source)

• narrow channels
• fast flowing
• shallow
• Pot holes in the river bed
• Rapids and Waterfalls
• v-shaped valley
• interlocking spurs
• erosion
  

The infant Severn river starts its journey to the sea flowing down hill in a south-eastern direction.

The River Severn starts life as a small stream

The water flows round harder rock forming interlocking spurs.

Percy is pointing to a spur

The water flows round harder rock forming interlocking spurs

Just a few hundred yards from its source, the River Severn is already gathering momentum and size as it flows steeply downhill into Hafren Forest.

Key vocabulary

Spur
A ridge of land that extends partly across a valley. Spurs only occur in the upper, steeper reaches of a valley.