A river underneath The Valley?

InspectorSands

From The Greenwich Phantom blog: http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/2011/07/a-river-runs-to-it/

There are many little streams in SE London whose names I cannot find. ……including a tributary of the Quaggy that rises in a pond near Blackheath Village, one that goes under Charlton’s Valley Stadium and another with 2 tributaries in Maryon Park, just S of the Charlton-Woolwich Road. No doubt there are many others + the Danson Stream that is dammed to form Danson Park Lake before joining the Shuttle.Has anyone written a book about these?
I know there's a big sewer (behind the east stand?) but has anyone heard of a river beneath The Valley?

T_C_E

I always thought the sewer pipe ran below the perimeter wall in front of the east stand?

ShootersHillGuru

It runs directly through the Napoleonic wine cellar under the Valley pitch.

DRAddick

 

It's where Ha-Ha Road near Woolwich Common gets it's name from. An "Ha-Ha" is an old word for an underground stream.

Lincsaddick

It runs directly through the Napoleonic wine cellar under the Valley pitch.

what was Napoleon doing on the piss in SE7? is that where he met his Waterloo?

Bexley Dan

played on the valley pitch and there was a major rainstorm and the place stunk of drains - quite often main sewers are based on the routes of existing rivers/tributaries.

Goonerhater

Ha Ha is a defensive ditch  which usaully has hiden nasties like  pointed stakes --- so when the enemy jump over the ditch its a big " ha ha" as they dont see the danger.

DaveMehmet

played on the valley pitch and there was a major rainstorm and the place stunk of drains -

If it was in the last 5 years, it was probably just all the shit the first team had been playing on it.

Rothko

There is a stream running through Maryon Wilson park, think that's what they meant

bigstemarra

Ha-has were also used by posh types as big ditches to prevent the livestock from the farmland surrounding their country piles getting into their manicured gardens!

If there is a river there, it has most probably been canalised and now runs through one of the larger sewer pipes, like most old urban watercourses in this country.  It probably exists as part of a storm drain/combined sewer outflow now, heading straight for the Thames!

Lincsaddick

From The Greenwich Phantom blog: http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/2011/07/a-river-runs-to-it/

There are many little streams in SE London whose names I cannot find. …
…including a tributary of the Quaggy that rises in a pond near Blackheath Village, one that goes under Charlton’s Valley Stadium and another with 2 tributaries in Maryon Park, just S of the Charlton-Woolwich Road. No doubt there are many others + the Danson Stream that is dammed to form Danson Park Lake before joining the Shuttle.
Has anyone written a book about these?


I know there's a big sewer (behind the east stand?) but has anyone heard of a river beneath The Valley?

If you check out the Wikepedia 'Quaggy' entry there is a lot of info. I cant see that a book has been written but there is a lot of inter-connecting data, including tributaries etc. But I'm sure you've already checked there.

Bexley Dan

played on the valley pitch and there was a major rainstorm and the place stunk of drains -

If it was in the last 5 years, it was probably just all the shit the first team had been playing on it.

no, summer of 1992 i think. There'd been a gap of about 8 years since the last major shower of shit had spread itself around the hallowed turf.   

Henry Irving

Ha-has were also used by posh types as big ditches to prevent the livestock from the farmland surrounding their country piles getting into their manicured gardens!

If there is a river there, it has most probably been canalised and now runs through one of the larger sewer pipes, like most old urban watercourses in this country.  It probably exists as part of a storm drain/combined sewer outflow now, heading straight for the Thames!

Spot on on both counts

ken from bexley

Interesting one......

Although it is probably a storm drain from the Heights/Church lane......

There was a small stream in Springfields, but I always though this was a storm/rain  overflow that ran down towards the Valley pub/Elliscombe road.

The stream in Mayron Wilson Park would have to go off at quite an angle to reach the Valley, almost going back on itself, with Coxmount road on a hill in it's way....... but a possibility?

creepyaddick

It runs directly through the Napoleonic wine cellar under the Valley pitch.

what was Napoleon doing on the piss in SE7? is that where he met his Waterloo?

No, but he did meet Josephine in the Liberal!

T_C_E

Josephine??........that would have been Plaaayer in his match day attire

Shrew

'The lost rivers of London' is a great book, mapping out the geography and history of London's lost rivers. It doesn't go into much local detail in the south east though but worth a read. here's a link to a map of London's old rivers http://bigthink.com/ideas/21337

stonemuse

'The lost rivers of London' is a great book, mapping out the geography and history of London's lost rivers. It doesn't go into much local detail in the south east though but worth a read. here's a link to a map of London's old rivers http://bigthink.com/ideas/21337

Yup, good book as is London Under by Peter Ackroyd

Henry Irving

It runs directly through the Napoleonic wine cellar under the Valley pitch.

what was Napoleon doing on the piss in SE7? is that where he met his Waterloo?

No, but he did meet Josephine in the Liberal!

Napoleon studied at the Military Academy in Woolwich from 1872 so that would have been the time he started the wine cellar.

He was killed in the Zulu war in 1879.

Richard J

I loved the original book on the subject 'The lost Rivers of London' by Nicholas Barton and would recommend it as an interesting read ,as others have said many of the covered Rivers are in the North .

The book actually statrted life as Barton's University thesis,but was thought to be so interesting it was published . Over the years I have tried to plot where the Rivers run when travelling around town .

I suspect the Napoleaon thing is a wind up , but I know  Napoleon the Third ( the original Napoleon's Nephew ) lived in Chislehurst for a while before he became Emperor and after he was deposed  , I wasn't aware he or one of his relatives studied in Woolwich.

Lincsaddick

It runs directly through the Napoleonic wine cellar under the Valley pitch.

what was Napoleon doing on the piss in SE7? is that where he met his Waterloo?

No, but he did meet Josephine in the Liberal!

Napoleon studied at the Military Academy in Woolwich from 1872 so that would have been the time he started the wine cellar.

He was killed in the Zulu war in 1879.

I never cease to learn new stuff !!! .. as Michael Caine might have said: 'not a lot of Zulus' knew that. According to Wiki, his death brought on great anguish in France as he was the last surviving true Bonaparte and ended all hopes of  restoring  the Bonaparte dynasty. Strange how a people (the French) who spent years guillotining royals and aristocrats were so keen to restore a 'monarchy'. Not unlike England after Cromwell.