Project Background

By the end of 2002, British Waterways and its partners had restored and built 220 miles of canals across Britain, including the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals in Scotland, and the Kennet & Avon Canal and Millennium Ribble Link in England. Today the organisation is focusing on the next tranche of priority restoration projects - including the Bow Back Rivers in London's East End.

The Bow Back Rivers are a 5.5km system of waterways which feed into the River Lee Navigation and the Thames in East London. They cover an area of 214 hectares (the equivalent size of the City of London) in the triangle between Stratford, Bromley-By-Bow and Hackney Wick and include: City Mill River, Old River Lea, Prescott Channel, Bow Creek, Abbey Creek, Pudding Mill River and Waterworks River.

The history of the Bow Back Rivers dates back to Alfred the Great and the invasion of the Danes. During the Industrial Revolution they played an important role both as a transport route and a power source for mills at Three Mills and City Mills. In the early 1930's major investment was injected into the Bow Backs to improve their ability to accommodate both floodwaters and navigation. At around this time, Waterworks River was significantly modified, Prescott Channel constructed and two new locks built at City Mills and Carpenters Road.

The rivers had largely fallen into disuse by the mid-20th century, with the decline in both canal freight carrying and waterside industries. The 1968 Transport Act classified the Bow Back Rivers as 'Remainder Waterways', effectively labelling them as not viable for leisure or commercial use and limiting investment in their future. The network is today heavily polluted, and the combination of low bridges, underwater debris, silt and the tide make them for all intents and purposes un-navigable for regular leisure and commercial traffic. The rivers thread their way through a landscape of redundant industry and suffer fly-tipping and other abuse.

Despite this, the Bow Back Rivers have been colonised by a broad range of flora and fauna, from kingfishers and waterfowl to invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed and Chinese Mitten Crabs. In recent years British Waterways and its partners (including the Lea Rivers Trust, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and London Borough of Newham) have carried out a great deal of work to enhance waterway habitats for native species, as well as creating access and signage improvements to open up the rivers and highlight their potential.

In 2002, British Waterways published a study into the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the restoration of the Bow Back Rivers and began discussion with various interested parties in the area.

The establishment of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at nearby Stratford began the transformation in people's attitudes towards this little-known part of London. It was the decision to host the 2012 Olympic Games in the Lower Lea Valley, however, which created by far the biggest boost and, importantly, a timetable, for regenerating the area. The Bow Back Rivers criss-cross the Olympic Park and are uniquely positioned to play a central role in the delivery of the Games and long-term Legacy plans.

Over the past 18 months, British Waterways has been working with a broad range of partners and stakeholders (including the Olympic Delivery Authority, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, Transport for London, the Environment Agency, Natural England and Defra) to develop a sustainable waterway restoration plan for the Lower Lea Valley, which maximises the rivers' use for wildlife, people and transport.

The first step in the plan is the restoration of the waterways north of Three Mills, and the construction of a new lock and water control structure on Prescott Channel, to provide a gateway for barge traffic entering the Olympic Park and help remove traffic from local roads. Long-term restoration plan will improve water quality in the area, enhance wildlife habitats on the rivers and tideways of the Lower Lea Valley and open up the waterways for public access and enjoyment.