Wildlife Circus

  The last time I encountered Tom Bolton was at his talk to the Friends of Belair Park in 2014 see: londons-lost-rivers-talk-by-tom-bolton.html Last night Tom, in collaboration with  'The Museum of Walking' and during the mayor supported 'National Park City week',  prelambulated us along the hidden course of the Neckinger. The starting point was a very parched Bernie Spain gardens, from where we headed towards the grounds of the Imperial War Museum.   The watercourse drained the seasonally wet (and occasionally flooded) ground at St George's Fields, now Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park. Here, while Tom topped up on his fluids Andrew efishently demonstrated the technique of employing dowsing rods and that - whenever the rods crossed - we could be certain that we were walking above the water course (now flowing through the complex of Thames Water's sewage pipes). Brook Drive near the rear of the IWM is thought to be the source of the Neckinger.   From...

Yesterday I went to the CaBA workshop, well attended by members from many of the 108 river catchment partnerships that exist throughout the country. This included, officers from the Environment Agency and  good representation from Thames Water - one of our own Hogsmill Partnership members (see previous posts on the South East Rivers Trust; including side tabs on  naturalising the Hogsmill river and Beverley Brook).  The London boroughs were well represented (Harrow, Enfield, Walthan Forest, Lewisham, Croydon) with many officers leading the presentations, on how they had dealt with devastating fluvial and pluvial flooding events in their boroughs with prevention top of their agenda. The London Wildlife Trust demonstrated their role in the Lost River Efra Project and how they were incorporating Sustainable Urban Drainage with depaving interventions. A CIRIA representative discussed their support for SuDS delivery and the guidance document that can be downloaded from th...

Last night the London Wildlife Trust hosted a talk by the  urban explorer, researcher and walker (in conjunction with the Friends of Belair Park) at the Belair Park recreation rooms, just off Gallery Road. This is particularly germane for the Friends as the River Effra is currently being released from it's concrete captivity this week as part of the  Lost Effra Project The Lost Effra Project was launched by London Wildlife Trust in January 2013, commissioned by Defra and the Carnegie UK Trust, to develop a community-based water management strategy aiming to inspire people to create new ways to manage the water environment in their area. Community groups are working to improve local green infrastructure to make Herne Hill and its surrounding areas more resilient to flooding and improve the natural environment for wildlife. (There are striking parallels here for us in Kingston as we too have been rethinking the Hogsmill river and South East Rivers Trust have been under...