please empty your brain below

So it has a short common section with a lost railway then...
Comment about how I used to live round the corner from it but never knew it was there.
Another trip selflessly done by DG so that we don't have to.

BTW - are the Met police horses allowed names like Brian? Or do they have to be called something apparently more macho?
Another interesting article by DG
For anyone that is interested, a lot of the river is shown (prior to culverting) on the 1894 OS maps.
An online scrollable version from NLS is here:
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/index.cfm#zoom=16&lat=51.58123&lon=-0.13652&layers=163
- starts at Highgate - click on Print View for a less cluttered screen (may not work properly on IE8)
Alan Godfrey Maps L7, L8, L11-L13 cover the whole river.

Looking at the maps, there are various section of the river that are now culverted that could have been left open, especially where they run at the bottom of gardens, such as behind Moselle Avenue. I assume that the Moselle was the boundary and whoever developed the other side after the houses were built decided it would be more economical to cover it up and use the extra surface space. Either that, or they didn't want the risk of the Moselle flooding the area. At least I'm assuming that it is all culverted to Lordship Rec as The Moselle notes state - it's difficult to tell by looking at Google Earth.
Interesting, as always. :)
This is a great account of the river, followed all the way in spite of those annoying matchday crowds.

@Rogermi - it seems very likely that you are correct, according to the 2005 book 'Haringey's Hidden Streams Revealed', which was based on a lot of research. Apparently there was a short stretch still above ground near Green Lanes, until the building of Wood Green Shopping City in the 1970's.
I was under the impression that the 'gap between shops' next to Argos was due to an unbuilt flyover for a one way system / gyratory. The formerly large gap has now largely been filled with buildings on each side of the road. Until a few years ago, the car park ramp on the Library side (opposite Argos) had a roadway to connect to the flyover that just stopped in mid air.
@psg
which lost railway?
@anon
I assume the Palace Gates Line from Seven Sisters to Palace Gates (and occasionally on to Bowes Park).

I must go and see this Priory Park.
Just to highlight that there is a comment on DG's Flickr picture linked to the words "beneath the towpath" that explains how the inconspicuous outflow is not actually the Moselle but instead that of Stonebridge Brook. I think DG might have edited his text to reflect this but it's not quite clear.

dg writes: Yes, I've tweaked the penultimate sentence to slightly cover up the fact I took a photo of the wrong outflow, the correct one being 50 metres upstream, dammit.

By the way the Markfield beam engine museum is worth a visit, especially when the engine is in steam!
Ah a near sighting of the lesser spotted DG. I was in the Spurs stadium when you walked past. London derby - you were lucky with your timing (or planned it well).
I don't blame you for being 50m out - it must be a hard task tracing invisible culverts.
thanks for a great post DG, especially as this one is in my area ... when the kids were younger I often took them to Queens Wood and passed over the grating where the stream goes underground, it's especially impressive when there's been a lot of rain

btw, Priory Park also hosts underground flood relief ... a few years back they did a lot of work under the tarmacked hard ball games area at the southeastern corner of the park and my (untechnical) understanding is that they expanded the size of the tank underneath to take an increased amount of flood water ... previously every time we had very heavy rain the shops along Wood Green High Road had their basements flooded
There is a surprising wealth of information about an area that can be found in various reports that councils have to legally provide and keep updated. They are usually very readable and informative documents and very useful if you live or have an interest in the area. The content varies by council and some councils have parts of the reports (often the appendices, such as maps) downloadable as separate files which give a much higher resolution. Sometimes the reports may give historical details about the area.

Two such reports Strategic Environmental Assesment and the Strategic Flood Risk Assesment reports. Sometimes the contents may overlap. These reports, especially the SFRA contail various hydrological information about the area, such as water courses, flood maps, and occasionally including surface water sewers and culverts. The more detailed flood maps are often useful in seeing the approximate path of a now culverted stream because the culvert will generally follow in the valley (however shallow) of the original stream and will thus show a line that is more prone to flooding.

Haringey council has the SFRA here:
http://www.haringey.gov.uk/housing-and-planning/planning/planning-policy/local-development-framework-ldf/evidence-base
- see level 1 and the additional report in level 2
I live on one of the tributaries and have been idly trying to work out where they go for years, and now you've linked me a map of them! Excellent post as ever. Thank you.
Useless comment that you were really near my house!










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