Bow Back Rivers - A Potted History

• The River Lea (or Lee) has a long and fascinating history and, during the reign of Alfred the Great, it formed the border between Saxon England and Viking controlled Danelaw.
   
• The complex network of Bow Back Rivers near its mouth in East London can be traced back to at least the 11th century when they were developed as millstreams and transport routes
   
• Before 1344 the Abbot of Stratford and others obstructed and diverted the River Lea to prevent flooding of the valley. However the works backfired, causing floods and restricting navigation, and they were ordered to be removed.
   
• Since the 18th century the Lea in West Ham has been one of the main sources of water for east London.
   
• The West Ham Waterworks Co., founded c.1745, established works at Saynes Mill Stratford, on the stream which later became known as Waterworks River.
   
• The company later took over St Thomas's (or Pudding) Mill on Pudding Mill River and by 1849 its successor, the East London Waterworks Co., had a chain of reservoirs along the Lea on West Ham's north-western boundary.
   
• An article in the Morning Leader on 10 December 1909 reported that Bromley Locks were remote and unknown to most Londoners: "None but lightermen knew all the torturous and casual channels into which the Lea breaks in its old age between Bromley and Tottenham; a mesh of waterways, each with its own name, that ramify the wilderness of marsh and waste country, much of which appears to be a No-man's-land."
   
• The greatest alteration to the channels of the Lea at Stratford was carried out between 1931 and 1935 to improve drainage and navigation. The Bow Back Rivers, linked with a network of open ditches, had for centuries drained the area north of the High Street. In the later 19th Century they had been polluted by domestic sewage from Leyton and West Ham. By 1931 all the foul sewers of the two boroughs were linked with the northern outfall sewer but the Back Rivers were still vital to storm drainage and they had become derelict and choked with rubbish.
   
• The Stratford Express of 18 March 1933 reported that a few years before, Stratford market station was flooded to the level of the platforms so that trains could not get through and in 1928 the flooding at Three Mills Distillery was three feet above ground level.
   
• The Lee Conservancy Board had drawn up two previous schemes for the improvement of the derelict rivers in 1892 and 1921 but withdrew the Parliamentary Bills because of opposition to the tolls which would have been levied to finance them.
   
• The 1930 River Lee Act empowered the Lee Conservancy Board and West Ham Borough Council to carry out a large-scale improvement scheme to widen, dredge and divert some streams, fill-in others and construct new locks and bridges:
   
• City Mill River converted into a navigable stream 50ft wide
   
• Waterworks River and Three Mills River became a drainage stream 100ft wide
   
• Prescott Channel constructed as a flood by-pass from Three Mills River to Channelsea River
   
• Three Mills Back River filled in
   
• There was great enthusiasm for the scheme and one of the contractors involved was quoted in the Stratford Express on 18 March 1933 saying "West Ham will be a fashionable boating centre. You will see the elite in blazers and straw hats, pulling their skiffs up and down and having a glorious time. Who knows? There may be motorboat racing and Henley will have to look to its laurels in the matter of regattas."
   
• The destruction wrought by the Blitz, and the decline in inland waterways nationally, meant that the Bow Back Rivers never fulfilled this potential and continued to suffer from pollution and under-investment.
   
• The last major alteration to the Back Rivers came in 1957-8 when Channelsea River was culverted between High Street and Lett Road and the Prescott Sluice was removed soon after.
   
• By the time of the 1968 British Waterways Act, the Bow Back Rivers had declined to such an extent that they were classified as 'Remainder Waterways' - effectively limiting investment in their future.
   
• Over the last decade a number of initiatives have been undertaken by partners including: British Waterways, London Borough of Newham, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, Lea River Trust and the Inland Waterways Association, to clean up the Bow Back Rivers and improve access and wildlife habitats.
   
• In 2000/2001, with funding from London's Waterway Partnership, British Waterways upgraded Bow Locks to reduce flood risk and siltation on the River Lee Navigation. At the same time the weir behind Three Mills was installed and a bund wall built to stop the tide topping the banks.
   
• Full restoration of the waterways has been a national priority for British Waterways since 2002 and is a Mayoral policy enshrined in the Blue Ribbon Network annex of the London Plan.
   
• In 2004/5, British Waterways refurbished the historic footbridge over Bow Locks, and completed the first phase of the restoration of City Mill Lock, with the installation of new gates.
   
• The first major catalyst for regeneration around the waterways was the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at nearby Stratford. But it was the decision in July 2005 to host the 2012 Olympics which has created the real impetus for improving the rivers and the neighbouring land.
   
• In June 2009 the new lock and water control structure at Prescott Channel was officialy opened, allowing access to the Olympic Park construction zone for freight barges.