Local History Month 2009 WALKING THE LEA VALLEY Leagrave → Leamouth
London's greatest river is, of course, the Thames. But river number two, the largest of all the tributaries flowing in from suburbia, is undoubtedly the Lea. It's a river of great contrasts, flowing from the cornfields of Bedfordshire to the industrial estates of East London. Much of its upper course is unspoilt Green Belt, while the lower valley will be completely reshaped as part of London's 2012 Olympic bid. The river begins beneath a cricket pavilion and ends beside a lighthouse. On its downhill journey it negotiates motorways, castles, reservoirs and stately homes. And it's more than 40 miles long, which means that walking the Lea is going to take me quite a while. Not a problem - I've got a month to complete the lot.
Before we go any further, let's clear up the controversy surrounding the river's name. Is it the river Lea, or is it the river Lee? Ancient Britons didn't care, because both names sound exactly the same when spoken. Alternative spellings have also included Lygan, Luye, Leye and Lay, so perhaps we're fortunate that only two simple possibilities remain. The confusion can probably be traced back to an act of Parliament in the 1760s, in which the original waterway was decreed to be the River Lea while the man-made channel constructed alongside was named the Lee Navigation. This distinction between natural (Lea) and artificial (Lee) is still adhered to today... most of the time, roughly speaking, pretty much. That's why the Olympics will take place in the Lower Lea Valley, but the linear greenspace between Hertford and the Thames is the Lee Valley Park. Whichever is actually correct, I'm going to stick with the Lea all the way down.
The River Lea rises on the outskirts of Luton, a lot further west than you might expect for East London's biggest river. But it doesn't take the most direct route to the Thames, instead trickling gently southeast-ish towards Ware before plummeting fairly directly south. The source of the river is generally taken to be in Leagrave (which makes sense, given the name), although one particular tributary snakes in an extra two miles from Houghton Regis which is where I'll be beginning my journey tomorrow. The first part of the Lea is surprisingly built-up, before the river escapes from Luton beneath the end of the airport runway and emerges into a green valley beyond. If anyone had suggested building an Olympic Stadium in the Upper Lea Valley, they'd most likely have been javelinned.
The character of the Lea changes somewhat after Hertford, becoming broader and gaining a navigable twin. Here the Lee Valley Park begins, created in the 1960s as Britain's first regional park, and blessed with watery spaces, dragonflies and abandoned supermarket trolleys. The valley spreads out across marshy floodplains, edged first by farms and later by light industry. A ribbon of settlements tracks the river through Hoddesdon and Broxbourne, with the Lea (approximately) forming the boundary between Hertfordshire and Essex. There's often a choice of walking routes - do you stick to the river proper or choose to follow one of the many parallel flood channels?
Beyond the M25 London slowly closes in, with the river (and adjacent reservoirs) forming a little-crossed barrier impeding communication from east to west. The Lea is wider here, and used to be tidal as far north as Hackney Wick (creating havoc for at least one passing medieval monarch). A just-completed lock near Three Mills has further restricted tidal flow, enabling the upstream Olympic Park to plan for an appealing waterside legacy. At the Bow flyover the 40-mile cycle path finally expires, and the Lea retreats behind a curtain of desolation for its final wiggle to the Thames. There are plans to open up this last section before 2012, but for now the river's last hurrah goes almost unnoticed at Leamouth - opposite the Dome.
I hope to give you a flavour of the entire Lea Valley over the next month, from the trickly top to the tidal mouth. I won't be giving detailed instructions about which footpaths to take, but I will be reporting back on what I've seen and I'll also be stopping off at some of the more interesting attractions nearby. If you want to follow in my footsteps, your essential companion is a £10 book - The Lea Valley Walk by Leigh Hatts. It's full of useful maps and photos and information, and the author even maintains a blog where he updates readers on temporary path closures and snippets of Lea-related news. Or you could get on your bike - almost all of the valley is cyclable, and it's a much quicker way to get from one end to the other. From Leagrave to Leamouth. I'll see you at the source tomorrow.
The essential Lea • Book:The Lea Valley WalkLeigh Hatts[recently updated] [I haven't got lost yet] • Photographs:London's second river[100s of evocative photos, old and new, from Peter Marshall] [fab] • Walk:The Lea Valley Walk[downloadable info and maps for the London section] • Park:Lee Valley Park[26 miles of open spaces and sporting places] • Geography:The River Lea[a rather nicely-done aimed-at-kids resource] • Other walkers:Stephen Dawson; Bertuchi
• My entire Lea Valley August walk on one page:here
Local History Month 2009
The River Lea rises on the outskirts of Luton, a lot further west than you might expect for East London's biggest river. But it doesn't take the most direct route to the Thames, instead trickling gently southeast-ish towards Ware before plummeting fairly directly south. The source of the river is generally taken to be in Leagrave (which makes sense, given the name), although one particular tributary snakes in an extra two miles from Houghton Regis which is where I'll be beginning my journey tomorrow. The first part of the Lea is surprisingly built-up, before the river escapes from Luton beneath the end of the airport runway and emerges into a green valley beyond. If anyone had suggested building an Olympic Stadium in the Upper Lea Valley, they'd most likely have been javelinned.
The essential Lea
