Mystery of the Buried River - Higham Hill Brook (4K)

Mystery of the Buried River in Walthamstow in the London Borough of Waltham Forest - the Higham Hill Brook. This lost river walk takes us from the William Morris Gallery to the former football ground of the great Walthamstow Avenue FC and the River Lea (shot in 4K).
Support my channel on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/JohnRogers

Watch the walk along the Dagenham Brook: https://youtu.be/n1pN6_cIigk
Abandoned Football Ground of Leyton FC https://youtu.be/E-Iu5bMjjO4

The course of the Higham Hill Brook
Where the river rises and it's course is a mystery that I hope to unravel in this walk. We start at the William Morris Gallery on Forest Road Walthamstow. It was built in 1762 as the Water House and was the childhood home of the great artist and designer William Morris who was born in Walthamstow. The 1777 map of Essex shows a watercourse running for the pond in the grounds of Water House and running directly down the hill to the Dagenham Brook and into the River Lea. Later maps show the Higham Hill Brook rising just to the East of Higham Hill Common then arcing around the common and entering the Dagenham Brook just on the other side of Blackhorse Lane.
"Higham Hill sewer flowed from Chapel End across Blackhorse Lane to Dagenham brook. The brook flowed south to Leyton, joined by Moor ditch from Markhouse common. Most of Moor ditch was piped in the 1880s. Parts of the Higham Hill sewer, Dagenham brook, and Blackmarsh sewer west of the brook, were diverted or filled in when the flood relief channel was built in 1950–60."
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp240-250#highlight-first

We look for the source of the Higham Hill Brook on Priory Avenue and follow the road round to Winns Avenue. From here we find the spot on Higham Hill Road where the stream clearly crosses the road, shown on old maps as a point where there's a footbridge across the stream. We trace the course back up the hill along Green Pond Road which was once the football ground of Walthamstow Avenue FC, who were one of the great non-league teams of English amateur football. We also visit Higham Hill Common Allotments on the site of Higham Hill Common.
Our lost river walk then goes along Higham Street and down to Blackhorse Lane. There we encounter the new development at Blackhorse Yard and in the planning document it reveals plans to 'deculvert' the Higham Hill Brook.
Our walk ends appropriately in the car park of the Cash and Carry in the Forest Trading Estate on the Walthamstow Beer Mile near the Truman's Social where the Higham Hill Brook meets the Dagenham Brook in a concrete culvert.

Links and references:
Aerial photo of Priory Court and Green Pond Road football ground in 1947 https://britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw005475
1777 Map of Essex https://map-of-essex.uk/
Walthamstow Avenue FC 1953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLfHW9uhYac
Blackhorse Yard
https://planning.walthamforest.gov.uk/civica/Resource/Civica/Handler.ashx/Doc/pagestream?cd=inline&pdf=true&docno=8776673
https://hunters.co.uk/projects/detail/blackhorse-yard/

Music used in this video from the YouTube audio library:
Sunday Drive by Silent Partner
Timeless by Lauren Duski
Nidra in the Sky with Ayler by Jesse Gallagher
Nevada City by Huma-Huma
Little Drunk, Quiet Floats by Puddle of Infinity

_________________________________________________________________________________

Please subscribe for regular videos: http://bit.ly/1EJjIB8

My shop: https://teespring.com/stores/the-lost-byway
My Book: This Other London http://amzn.to/2zbFmTd
Audiobook & Kindle: http://amzn.to/2xLGb8s

Blog: The Lost Byway: http://thelostbyway.com/
Patreon https://www.patreon.com/JohnRogers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fugueur
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thelostbyway/

Make a donation to help support the channel https://paypal.me/JohnRogersLondon - many thanks!
Shot in 4K on a Panasonic GX80 (affiliate link) https://amzn.to/2QUrtXo

My Walking kit (amazon affiliate link - I earn a small commission on purchases)
https://amzn.to/2Xky2UA

Видео Mystery of the Buried River - Higham Hill Brook (4K) канала John Rogers