The Tame is generally considered to have two main sources;
Willenhall and
Oldbury. The tributaries arising in these locations are generally known as the
Willenhall arm and the
Oldbury arm of the Tame. However, some of its tributary streams, including Waddens Brook, rise as far to the west and north as
Bilston and
Wednesfield in the city of
Wolverhampton. Much of the course of the river has been modified over the centuries, and the urban sections now run mainly through culverts or canalised channels. Both arms of the Tame flow through the
Black Country to their confluence at
Bescot, on the edge of Walsall.
The Willenhall or Wolverhampton arm The northern arm is easily traced from
Bentley, near Willenhall. However, the SMURF project traces it back as far as Stow Heath, near
Bilston, where it is marked by a marshy patch at the northern end of the
City of Wolverhampton College's Wellington Road campus; hence, SMURF (Sustainable Management of Urban Rivers and Floodplains) uses the term "Wolverhampton arm" for this section of the Tame. Victorian
Ordnance Survey maps trace the sources of the Tame further back, to the site of the old Stow Heath colliery, which is now Wolverhampton's East Park. The stream runs invisibly but generally north-eastward through Stowlawn, and then cuts across the southern edge of Willenhall, appearing briefly among the warehouses, and picking up reinforcement from the Waddens Brook, which originates in Wednesfield. It appears definitively at Watery Lane and Noose Lane, even more so at Bentley, where it runs southward through the industrial part of Bentley, before turning south-eastward, following a realigned course alongside and beneath the
M6 motorway, to Bescot. Image:Tame at Willenhall.JPG|The Willenhall Arm, close to the source, among residential areas near Shepwell Green. The river is disclosed by the tiny area of reflection in the centre of the photograph - a small stream between overgrown banks, and almost inaccessible, although it forms the town's boundary. Image:Tame at Bentley Creen1.JPG|The Willenhall Arm at Bentley Green, Walsall, just after passing under the
Black Country Route. Despite the appearance at this point it here enters an area of heavy industry. File:River Tame south of the Anson Branch Canal - geograph.org.uk - 438348.jpg|The Willenhall branch south of the Anson Branch Canal, near the Bentley Mill entertainment and retail area. Image:Tame at Axletree Way.JPG|The Willenhall Arm passes a large retail development at Axletree Way, Wednesbury, formerly a heavy industrial site. The Tame is completely screened from the road and pedestrian ways at this point, though only a few metres away. Image:Tame Confluence.JPG|Confluence of the Oldbury Arm (left) and the Willenhall Arm (right), close to
Bescot Stadium railway station, under the
M6 Motorway.
The Oldbury arm The southern arm appears prominently close to Oldbury town centre, which gives it its name, but can be traced back to an industrial area at Titford, just west of the
M5 motorway, between Whiteheath and
Langley Green. It winds its way up through Langley and around the southern and eastern edges of Oldbury town centre, surfacing due south of
Sandwell & Dudley railway station, from which point it remains mainly on the surface and is easily traced. Bearing generally north-westward, it skirts
Brades Village and flows into
Tipton. Here it passes through
Sheepwash Urban Park and
Horseley Heath to the centre of
Great Bridge. Leaving Tipton, it then zig-zags across the southern and eastern parts of
Wednesbury, to meet the Willenhall or Wolverhampton arm at
Bescot. File:Tame entering Sheepwash.jpg|The Oldbury Arm of the Tame, close to where it enters
Sheepwash Urban Park, via a culvert under the
West Coast Main Line. Image:Sheepwash Urban Park Tame bank.JPG|Oldbury Arm of the Tame close to its entrance to the Sheepwash Urban Park, between
Great Bridge,
Tipton, and
West Bromwich. At this point it is still only 1–2 metres wide if not in flood. Image:Sheepwash Urban Park island.JPG|Largest of the lakes in Sheepwash Urban Park. This is a storm water
retention basin, fed by the Oldbury Arm, providing an important urban habitat. Image:Sheepwash Urban Park canalised Tame.JPG|Canalised channel of the Tame. Sluices feeding the Sheepwash lakes are visible on both sides. Image:Tame Oldbury Arm at Tame Bridge.JPG|The Oldbury Arm at Tame Bridge, just south of Great Bridge. Image:Tame at Great Bridge south.JPG|Steadily widening, the Oldbury Arm approaches Great Bridge. Image:Tame near Hill Top Wednesbury.JPG|The Oldbury Arm near Hill Top,
Wednesbury. This section is heavily industrial, with very little public access, and the river often passing under warehouses and factories.
The Main Stream The unified Tame then flows—partly through channels realigned to make way for the M6 motorway and its interchange with the M5—through
Sandwell Valley and into north
Birmingham. It passes through
Hamstead and
Perry Hall Park to
Perry Barr, where it is crossed by the
Perry Bridge of 1711, then through
Witton and beneath both
Gravelly Hill Interchange (where it is fed by the
Rea) and
Bromford Viaduct, to
Washwood Heath. Image:Tame Valley Aqueduct.JPG|Aqueduct carrying the
Tame Valley Canal over the River Tame at Ray Hall. Image:Tame at Ray Hall.JPG|The Tame at Ray Hall sewage works, from the Tame Valley Canal aqueduct, with the Charlemont area of West Bromwich on the right. Image:Tame at M5 Interchange.JPG|The Tame flowing under the
M5 motorway interchange with the
M6 motorway northbound, after which it enters Sandwell Valley. Image:Tame banks upper Sandwell Valley.JPG|Steep, eroded banks of the Tame in upper part of
Sandwell Valley. Image:Tame Sandwell canalised.JPG|A canalised section of the Tame in Sandwell Valley, showing
Forge Mill Lake to the right, separated from the river by a steep embankment. Image:Forge Mill sluices.JPG|Sluices controlling the flow of water into Forge Mill Lake, a storm water retention basin. Image:Tame Sandwell bridge.JPG|Bridge over the canalised section, linking the lake to Forge Mill Farm Image:Tame Sandwell riverbed.JPG|Bed and banks of the river, which is usually shallow and fast-flowing at this point. Image:Tame Sandwell Forge Mill.JPG|Forge Mill Lake. The
RSPB reserve's bird hide is visible across the lake, in the centre of the photograph. Skirting to the north of
Castle Bromwich, it leaves Birmingham to the north-east at
Park Hall Nature Reserve, passing
Water Orton in
Warwickshire. At
Hams Hall, immediately after its confluence with the
River Blythe and the little River Bourne, it turns sharply to take up a northward course, and soon feeds into the large complex of water purification lakes at
Lea Marston that now make up
Kingsbury Water Park. It then crosses into
Staffordshire, flowing through
Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve in a wide valley between
Drayton Bassett to the west and
Dosthill to the east. It then flows under
Watling Street to the east of
Fazeley, and under an
aqueduct carrying the
Coventry Canal. It continues northward to
Tamworth, which takes its name from the river, where it is joined by the
River Anker immediately to the east of Lady Bridge beneath the strategically positioned
Tamworth Castle. The river continues its generally northward route past
Hopwas,
Comberford and
Elford until it arrives at the
National Memorial Arboretum where it forms the boundary between this and the
Croxall Lakes Nature Reserve. After this, it flows under the railway at
Wichnor Viaduct to its confluence with the
Trent near
Alrewas. The eventual outflow is into the
North Sea, via the
Humber Estuary. When the Tame and Trent meet, the Tame is the bigger river, the Trent effectively joining it as a tributary. However, the Trent being the
longer river at that point is considered the more senior, and so the combined river bears its name. Image:River Tame at Tamworth.jpg|The Tame at Tamworth, with Lady Bridge in the foreground and Tamworth Castle behind. Image:River Tame Hopwas.jpg|The Tame east of
Hopwas Image:River Tame - geograph.org.uk - 122886.jpg|the Tame at
Elford, north of Tamworth. Image:Chetwynd Bridge.jpg|The Tame passing under Chetwynd Bridge near
Alrewas, designed by
Joseph Potter in 1828. Image:Lower Tame pillbox.JPG|
Pillbox on the west bank of the Tame, one of many defences constructed along the Midlands rivers during World War II. Image:Pillbox At NMA.jpg|Pillbox on the west bank of the River Tame Image:Tame Arboretum.JPG|The Tame at the edge of the
National Memorial Arboretum, with
Croxall Lakes to the left. Image:Tame Trent confluence.JPG|Confluence of the Tame (right) with the
River Trent (left), at the northern edge of the National Memorial Arboretum. The catchment of the Tame covers an area of nearly 1500 km2 and contains a population of about 1.7 million people. Approximately 42% of the Tame basin is urbanised, making it the most heavily urbanised
river basin in the United Kingdom. The traditional industries of Birmingham and the Black Country, based on coal, iron and steel, were heavily polluting, and the Tame is conducted through a series of purification lakes below Lea Marston in Warwickshire to remove pollutants, an arrangement unique in the UK. A large part of this lake area forms the
Kingsbury Water Park. Clean-up operations in a notoriously polluted stretch of the river in the
Witton area of Birmingham have meant that aquatic
wildfowl such as ducks and swans have settled on that stretch of the river. Sandwell Valley has evolved over the last two decades into an important urban wildlife habitat. The Tame is
non-navigable throughout its course. ==Pollution==