Lea Valley the new Venice
Comparisons between the Lea Valley and Venice may seem somewhat fanciful. Venice is, after all, one of the world’s major tourist destinations, arguably the world’s most romantic city, and is resplendent with treasures such as the Basilica di San Marco, the Rialto Bridge and the Doge’s Palace. The waterways of the Lea Valley, meanwhile, are flanked by wasteland and disused factories. The canals of the Serene Republic echo to the songs of gondoliers, while on the Lea you’re more likely to hear gaggles of anglers discussing the weather and West Ham’s prospects for next season.But these waterways were once the lifeblood of the East End, the trade routes of their day, before more than a century of neglect set in. That could be set to change, with the Water City Initiative aiming to bring the neglected docks, rivers and canals of east London back to life. With the River Lea and the Regent’s Canal at the heart of 250 hectares of new and improved public open spaces, linking the Lea Valley to the Thames, Stratford to Canary Wharf. Up to 40,000 new homes are planned to be built and 50,000 new jobs created, most in a huge new shopping and office complex, dubbed Stratford City.
It’s an enticing idea. The miles of waterways are largely unseen by most of us, hidden behind walls and factories, perhaps glimpsed from a train window or as we pass over a bridge. The plan is to turn our focus back toward the canals. London Development Agency chair Mary Reilly said Water City could help turn waterways which “currently divide the area, into a major asset”. And if that sounds fanciful, well it’s not so long since Docklands was rotting and forgotten and many Londoners never set foot on a Thames towpath.
Centuries back the Lea or Lee (or historically the Ley) was the home of Bronze and Iron Age settlements, while the Romans built Ermine Street parallel to the watercourse. The river rises around Luton in Bedfordshire before flowing down to the Thames. By the sixth century AD it was the boundary of the Saxon kingdoms of Essex to the east and Middlesex to the west. Always strategically important, by the ninth century the Lee was the last bastion between Alfred the Great’s Saxon England to the west and the Vikings (who had worked their way towards London via the east coast and through East Anglia) to the east. One story has Alfred marooning the Vikings by building a weir and thus draining the waters - certainly remains of Viking ships have been found further up river in Hertfordshire.
By the Middle Ages, the invaders were Englishmen and women themselves, England was at peace, and Middlesex and Essex were counties instead of kingdoms. Now began the all-important industrialisation of the Lee. What had been a strategic barrier now became an essential way of getting goods in and out of the capital, while the water from the river itself became crucial in manufacturing. The ’stink industries’ were to grow up along the banks, including tanning, tallow making and slaughterhouses, and this was the site of Britain’s first paper mill.
As early as 1424, government was recognising the importance of the route, instructing an act of parliament to improve navigation on the river. Deepening of the watercourse and canalisation of the banks meant flour, coal, malt, gunpowder and other vital supplies could now be moved quickly and in quantity into London. By the 18th century, engineering had developed apace, and new canalisation techniques saw locks being built and new cuts carved out, so larger barges could take goods right from the Thames Basin to Hertfordshire. From here they would join the wider canal network or be taken by road to the North and the Midlands.
And industry grew up along the banks - obvious as this was where the raw materials from around the world were landed. Bow China, the most famous maker of which was Thomas Frye, was manufactured here. In 1744, one Edward Heylen bought a property on the London side of the Lea, at Bow Bridge, and the Bow Porcelain Manufactory of New Canton went into business, becoming a huge success. But even as the Lea grew and developed, there was a new enemy on the horizon - the railways.