What is "canche"

The river Canche (Dutch: De Kwinte) is one of the rivers that flow from the plateau of the southern Boulonnais and Picardy, into the English Channel. The Somme is the largest example. The basin of the Canche extends to and lies in the southern end of the département of Pas-de-Calais. Forming an alluvial valley from wide, the Canche is a verdant landscape of calm waters, marshes, meadows and small woods. The gentle gradient, averaging 1.5 percent, gives the river a meandering course.

The river rises at Gouy-en-Ternois and passes Frévent, Hesdin, Montreuil-sur-Mer before leaving the chalk to flow to the coast between Étaples and Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. Its principal tributaries are the Ternoise, the Planquette, the Créquoise, the Bras de Bronne, the Course, the Dordogne (not the Dordogne) and the Huitrepin which all join on its right bank, i.e. to the north of the Canche. The lie of the land means there’s no notable tributary from the south until the Grande Tringue, which flows from marshland into the small, dredged estuary.