please empty your brain below
Isn't the river Fleet also underground somewhere around Piccadilly?

Lyle | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 8:47 a.m. | #

No, the Fleet runs under Farringdon St. The... Westbourne(?) fills the ponds in Hyde Park; maybe that's what you're thinking of. The Fleet was large enough that you can pick it out with a suitable contour map.

Chz | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 10:10 a.m. | #

Ah, right - my mistake. In honesty, I didn't know that the underground rivers were used to feed the lakes/ponds etc. - it's an obvious thing, but I'd somehow missed it.

DG - the lost rivers sound like an interesting set of posts! I'll look forward to them.

Lyle | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 10:52 a.m. | #

Lost rivers rock! More lost rivers. Gimme gimme gimme. Also, I'd like the more obscure ones, rather than yer usual Fleet, Effra etc. (Assuming there are some more obscure ones.)

Ant | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 1:54 p.m. | #

Which river runs through a pipe that goes over Sloane Square station? I remember it being in Peter Ackroyd's London but I don't recall it offhand.

quin | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 1:54 p.m. | #

I've heard there are underground rivers around finsbury park, but don't know any more details.

random female | 25.08.04 - 8:35 p.m. | #

Quin: It's the River Westbourne that runs over Sloane Square station in a pipe.

Chz: Yes, the Westbourne also fills the ponds in Hyde Park.

Ant: More obscure ones like the Black Ditch, the Hackney Brook, Counter's Creek and the Peck, you mean?

You might all enjoy Tim Bradford's book The Groundwater Diaries about the lost rivers of London, although it's less about history and geography and more, well, odd really.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 9:01 p.m. | #

That also gave its name to the site of the gallows, now occupied by Marble Arch (itself shifted from elsewhere).
Call me retro, but I'd love them to bring back hanging at Tyburn - it'd make a great Saturday afternoon's entertainment.

Matt | Homepage | 25.08.04 - 9:05 p.m. | #

Hah! That's where I remembered it from - The Groundwater Diaries. I've recommended it to people not as a book about lost rivers, but more of a book about a guy who thinks he can find lost rivers with a divining rod and a suitable application of Special Brew.

Chz | Homepage | 26.08.04 - 5:34 p.m. | #

Ah! cheers DG.

quin | Homepage | 26.08.04 - 7:04 p.m. | #











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