Last Saturday almost 30 people gathered in the far eastern edge of the Regional Park for the second beautifulLee River Event. The name was chosen to try to encourage people to take care of and enjoy the beautiful river on our doorstep.
The group collected litter, drew with chalk, built some stick boats and learnt about the area from Professor Robert Devoy. There wasn’t a great deal of litter in this area (much to the disappointment of one enthusiastic young litter picker), but there were a few amusing items found. However, it was quite concerning to see several spreading patches of Japanese Knotweed.
The younger members built some great river-faring ‘vessels’ and everyone enjoyed watching them float away. Robert Devoy filled us in on the long history of the Lee Valley, asking us to imagine seeing the valley from the air. He explained that the valley was once filled with ice to the level of the County Hall.
Many thanks to Robert Devoy for sharing his expertise. Thank you also to all the litter-pickers, chalkers & boat builders. Thank you especially to Tidy Towns for their support and for supplying us with gloves, hi-vis vests, litter pickers and black bags and for collecting the rubbish we gathered.
The next beautifulLee River Event is tentatively earmarked for Saturday, 5 September in the fields around what is now The Anglers.
We hope you come out and join in the fun.
