Lea Valley Walk 3: Three Battles over Water

There's a lot of history behind the Lea Valley, for its river brings all sorts of opportunities to many different types of user. But they can't all be satisfied at the same time, which leads to conflict, of which these are just three.

1. Navigation vs. Power 

At the top of Hackney Marshes, where now the Lea River and Lee Navigation part, there used to be water mills. These were used to all sorts of tasks, from grinding corn, to boring tree trunks to even grinding the points to pins and needles (see history panel above).

These water mills needed water (obviously) so the millers wanted to control the water flow. But that caused problems for the bargemen who had different needs. The millers sometimes abused their power, deliberately lowering water levels so barges were grounded.

The solution was the Hackney Cut, so each could keep using the Lea, the mills grinding corn and the barges transporting it down river. That split continues to this day, with the Lea River and Lee Navigation.

2. Narrow Boat Owners vs. Water Safety Zones

This one is more recent - in fact it is still ongoing. All along the Lee Navigation were these banners and fly posters:

So what were they all about?

I had a search and came up with this story about a protest against "water safety zones". Apparently the Canal and River Trust (CRT) are concerned about "very high or competing waterway uses" and want to put in additional signage and restrictions in parts of the Lee Navigation such as in Hackney.

But boat owners say it could displace boat to move elsewhere.

This is not a new problem: boat numbers in London have been rising and putting a strain on 200 year old canals and resources. See this post from the CRT and this from the National Association of Boat Owners.

The wider picture is the high price of living in London which makes the low costs of narrow boats seem attractive. Of course the reality of boat life can be pretty tough, with sometimes basic facilities and lack of permanent moorings means a constant need to move on.

It's also the case that this overcrowding can make the canals and navigations a bit of a mess. I much preferred walking down the Lea River to the Lee Navigation as the latter was basically a long boat park. And many boats were pretty tatty - it felt at times like a cross between a trailer park and a scrap yard.

There must be some sort of compromise as the current situation seems unsustainable. Maybe placing tighter limits on number of boats in exchange for better facilities?

3. Water Companies vs. the Environment

The day I walked this bit of the Lea River was a bit of a scorchio and so locals had headed into the waters to cool off:

This might look fun but is actually rather risky, as all along the Lea River were signs like this:

I don't get this. 

Hackney Council admits the Lea River is "very polluted water" and its response is not to clean up the river but to put up signs against swimming.

This is just bonkers but alas is part of a trend. Last year, water companies discharged raw sewage into English rivers more than 400,000 times!!

Look at the yuck left on the trees:

There are only a small number of chalk streams worldwide and 80% are them are in England - they are a natural resource to be protected and the water companies first extract clean water from them and then discharge raw sewage into them.

This is a disgrace!!

If you want to find out more about this issue, follow campaigner and ex-Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey on Twitter.