London’s More Important River – the River Lea

London’s More Important River – the River Lea

By Jeremy Batch

Chiswick Pier Trust’s Talk by the Thames on Tuesday 26 February 2019 at 7.30 pm

London’s more important River by Jeremy Batch is about the extraordinary history of the River Lea, one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames.

The following were invented, developed, manufactured or tested along the River Lea and its accompanying man-made canal, the Lee Navigation:    navigational buoys, lighthouses, tidal power, Britain’s first aeroplane, gunpowder, rockets, the light bulb, the diode, television, electronic warfare, the safety match, the rifle, the bouncing bomb, plate glass, plastic, petrol, gin, dog biscuits and the world’s most powerful warship.    The River Lea has been our border with Scandinavia, London’s lifeline during the Great Plague, and the venue for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Lea meets the Thames at Bow Creek. The upper stretch and tributaries of the Lea, classified as chalk streams, are a major source of drinking water for London, and its origins in the Chilterns account for the high mineral content (and therefore hardness) of London’s tap water.

Jeremy Batch is well known in the boating community as a popular historian and speaker, and also as the former lock keeper at Limehouse Marina.  It was in his role as lock keeper, a job he had for nine years, that he met Steffan Meyric Hughes (CPT’s September Talk by the Thames speaker) who featured Jeremy in his book – Around London in a Small Boat.  Jeremy now works for the Cruising Association.

This talk is about inventions, physics, maritime and inland waterways history, and promises to be great fun!

7.30 pm at Chiswick Pier Trust. Free to members, £3 to non-members.  Free parking in Pumping Station Road.