I am fascinated by rivers which are no longer there… well, actually, they are usually rivers which have been disappeared. In fact many apparently hidden, lost or disappeared rivers are somewhere. Maybe they have been diverted by engineers or farmers, or sent on a new course by an event – a flood or avalanche perhaps. Sometimes they are covered, culverted, channelled or built over… and sometimes this happened such a long time ago that they are completely forgotten… but still they are there, flowing silently underground.
I’m sure every city has its lost waterways, London’s hidden rivers include the Rivers Westbourne, Tyburn, Fleet, Walbrook and Effra. I guess that many of us came across these ‘lost’ watercourses from reading ‘The Rivers of London‘ series by Ben Aaronovitch. I already knew of several of them but learned of many more from Ben’s amazing and extraordinary books.
In Bristol, our nearest big city, we have our own lost rivers, and there are many people keen to bring the hidden waters to light. Maybe this could only be commemoratively because they are buried too deep or beneath buildings to ever again see the light of day.
Some of Bristol ‘s lost waters:-
- Boiling Wells
- River Boyd
- Brislington Brook
- River Frome,
- Hazel Brook
- River Malago
- New Cut
- Pigeon House
- River Severn
- Siston Brook
- River Trym
I seem to have lost whatever touch I had of writing poetry, but I really want to write a poem about the lost rivers. I have started, but it needs more and better:
Tamed water
Water which used to be visible but has become hidden
Springs which have been covered
Rivers bridged and steams long gone
Culvert, conduit, channel, drain,
All now diminished and forgotten.
Say their names, the tamed water.
My featured image is of the rhyne or drainage ditch which runs through our village. It is called the Uphill Great Rhyne – Uphill is the name of our village, and the rhyne is only great in the sense that it’s bigger than other little rhynes.
Lois Elsden 