[2] Passing just north of Middlewich, it merges first with the River Croco near the site of the old Roman fort in Harbutt's Field, and then with the River Wheelock near the aqueduct carrying the Trent and Mersey Canal, and runs the remaining 5 miles (8 km) north to Northwich where it flows into the River Weaver.

[3] Although the main river is part of the Mersey catchment and flows into the Irish Sea, a portion of the water can be diverted via canal feeders into Rudyard Lake and subsequently the Caldon Canal.

This water discharges eventually into the River Trent and ultimately into the North Sea, having crossed the English watershed.

Nearby a tall red brick railway viaduct, built in 1841, spans the broad Dane Valley between Holmes Chapel and Twemlow.

[6] It crosses the River Dane at Saltersford, where Cheshire salt traders once drove their horse-drawn carts through a ford along the toll road.