"Neil Arlidge" <[email protected]> wrote: >Adrian Stott wrote:
>> There are no tidal Bow Back Rivers any more. Well, no navigable ones, >> anyway. The short tidal bit of the Three Mills Wall River upstream of >> the House Mill is no longer navigable, as a result of the new weir >> acoss that River associated with Prescott (Three Mills) lock. All the >> rest of the BBR are now non-tidal. > >The Bow Back Rivers are the collective names to all the waterways in the >area AIUI, "Bow Back Rivers" is the collective name of all the waterways downstream of Lea Bridge weir, excluding the Hackney Cut and the Bow River (i.e. the main line of the Lee navigation) and Bow Creek. It covers/covered the Old River Lea, Channelsea River, Waterworks River, City Mill River, Pudding Mill River, St Christopher's River, Three Mills Wall River, Three Mills Back River, Prescott Channel, and maybe one or two others that don't come to my mind right now. >, the Channelsea River / Abbey Creek is still totally tidal and >certainly very navigable, why you could even get your barge up there! AIUI, The Channelsea River is deemed to have been only the channel upstream of the Northern Outfall Sewer / Abbey Road. However, I believe it has been entirely culverted now. Downstream of that is Bow Creek, of which Abbey Creek is the upstream end. >Please note I said earlier on I said *semi-tidal*, the former totally tidal >waterways above Prescott Lock will be *semi-tidal* as high spring tides will >still overtop the new variable level Prescott Weir. The weir had to be >designed like this, as to retain the level above high spring tide level >there would only be a couple of feet headroom under most of the bridges on >the semi-tidal side. That may be incorrect. The retained level in the Waterworks River will be below that of the highest tides, for the headroom reason you give. However, I have understood that the tide will be *totally* kept out of the WWR (as it is already from the rest of the BBR, which has a different retained level), not least to prevent the entry of Thames silt. However, I stand to be corrected, if you provide the evidence. I think Three Mills Lock is designed so that craft will lock *down* through it into the WWR if they use it to leave Bow Creek at the top of a big tide. Same as at Bow Lock (and Limehouse Lock, I guess). I believe WWR will be fed solely with Lea (fresh) water. >>Bow Creek is not a Bow Back River. However, it is tidal -- very tidal. >> And very twisty. That's why Bow Creek (and only Bow Creek) has been >> transferred to PLA for traffic management. > >...along with the tidal Bow Creek above Bow Lock(s)...presumably up to the >junction with Abbey Creek...in fact do BW now know where their jurisdiction >now ends???!!! :-) AIUI, the PLA jurisdiction will extend up to the NO Sewer / Abbey Lane on Bow/Abbey Creek. BTW, I understand that pleasure craft access into WWR (mostly to get to the moorings in Prescott Channel) will be via City Mill Lock, but not until after the Olympics. Adrian Adrian Stott 07956-299966
