The Lost River of Walthamstow | secret underground stream (4K)

[@georgerobartes2008]

I worked as a surveyor for an approved contractor for LB of Waltham Forest and the scope of works included void work , remedials including unexplained damp issues and as result locating drainage runs . You missed the biggest clue for the head at Upper Walthamstow and walked past it along Bisterne Road . Avon Road is the course of the river as "Avon " is old Brythonic for ' river '. Yep the River Avon is actually the River River .

[@PVAPPE]

Another excellent, educational and therapeutic video. Who cares what’s on TV when work of this quality is available?!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

many thanks indeed

[@admiralcraddock464]

I've said this about so many topics on KZbin. From watch collecting, fossil hunting, rsilways industrial archeology etc the production and presentation is suoerb. puts tge BBC, with its massive budgets and oveblown staff, to shane

[@glizzyhendrix]

@@admiralcraddock464 and that’s a whole fact sir

[@jackrutter9250]

Hi John. Lived on Chadwick Road. Can confirm had a water course in the basement cellar discovered digging down during building work. Was always suspicious as the cellar floor had damp only in one section. Had the water analysed and was definitely a stream not some leaking drain. Considered bottling it and selling it as Leytonstone spa!

[@morriganwitch]

You should have charged folk For a paddle . Xxx

[@jackrutter9250]

@@morriganwitch Yes, this Yorkshireman missed a trick there. Thanks to the info and commentary on this post I discover the long gone Wallwood House had a large pond with a little island now where Preston Road sits but backing on to Chadwick roads back gardens. That might explain my little mystery stream. X

[@thebrothers3971]

74 now,I lived at the Hoe street end of First Avenue and when they dug the Victoria line, we started getting clear water pouring beteween the bricks in the cellar. My dad had to get it sealed up. Was told they had disturbed the water table. As a kid I would often walk with my friend through the forest following the streams, sadly dried up now.

[@GeeMak999]

I thought it was called filthy river, idk might be more marketable.

[@andrewramsey7405]

You can get Thames Water to sample the water and tell you the source.

[@richardhavell4492]

0:15 That's me! I went for a lunchtime walk around Hollow Ponds and clearly walked past you completely oblivious.

[@morganthedruid1]

Cool jacket, it must be a bit frustrating that you walked past John and missed the chance to have a chat with him.

[@glizzyhendrix]

hahaha nice video bomb

[@robbojax2025]

Never thought of an electricity sub station as a temple to a river before. Thank you for another relaxing (for the viewer) walk.

[@bw_digitalphotography]

The sound of running rivers is just magical. truly love walking beside them

[@pumpkinprincess1031]

“Their spirits insist on breaking free”. Such poetry in your storytelling. Thank you.

[@yxngollie1216]

Thank you John for a captivating 45 minutes. I work in Leyton and drive past the big Puddle at the lowest point in James Lane where the river crosses beneath. I couldn't resist taking a picture this evening of the reflections of the traffic in the Puddle, been meaning to do it for ages. 👍

[@DavidCoverdale2000]

Hello John. I hope you are well. I used to live in Southwest Road (the Phillebrook flowed directly behind you from the shot of the manhole cover at the end of your video). We had those massive pipes (like those you highlighted in Peterborough Rd in this vid) inserted into the ground near to where the phone box is/was in our junction with Bulwer Rd around late 1992. This was because our house in Southwest Road flooded pretty badly several times in the mid-80's. Ironically, our neighbours from the back of us in Drayton Rd owned the land immediately behind the manhole cover shot and proposed building flats there (over the course of the Philli) around 15 years ago. Us and our neighbours in Southwest Rd successfully fought this off. However, our family moved out of Southwest Rd ten years ago and I saw from your Philli video that they have now built flats there (the irony here being that they probably cited the improved drainage from the Philli there when being successful with their building proposals second time round). One more little thing, I do remember as a kid boring a hole in the ground to our garden in Southwest Road during normal weather conditions and hitting the Philli around 6 ft down! Thanks again John. All the best.

[@boondoggle6]

What a treat to join you on this fascinating exploration looking for a lost stream. Your enthusiasm and excitement is so infectious I was on the edge of my seat several times as you came close to uncovering that elusive watercourse.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

many thanks for coming along

[@koningbolo4700]

Lovely mystery hunting... Very good to read the land and the way people of the past were forced to respect the river by not building on them or in a special way...

[@arrabellawillow7943]

I’m from North Yorkshire I love your walks, I’m disabled so I feel like I’m walking around London, my mother was born in London thank you for such interesting adventures

[@Pierlover]

River detective! I like the idea of you being stalked by Thames Water - they want to keep the river secret! The first part was my area - my brother and I used to play with some children in Bisterne Avenue. They were always digging tunnels in the back garden so you could roll a ball from one end to the other. (Except it always got stuck somewhere!) My first school was in Wood Street and I had my appendix removed in Whipps Cross Hospital. Even though I left there in 1955 when I was 5 my memory of the area is very vivid. I remember going to Sunday School in Shernhall Methodist Church - a huge (it seemed to me) Gothic building but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. I couldn't find it when I went back in the 1980's.

[@cgj3888]

Recollections of memories working back in the 80s a couple of days a week in Hoe Street and spent lunch time and evening walks around Walthamstow Thanks for sharing the magic. SMILES 👍🇬🇧👌

[@bxckdoor9113]

If you go to the Coombes Croft Library in Tottenham you can see the Moselle Brook river under a thick sheet of glass, the river goes underneath a lot of the main roads in the area

[@JohnRogersWalks]

many thanks - the Moselle is on my list so hopefully do that in the Spring

[@stevec00ps]

Brilliant - loved this one John! I can't help noticing things like valleys and gaps in buildings now!

[@exchippie]

Hi John. I lived at 1 Woodstock Road for the first seventeen odd years of my life, with this part of Epping Forest as my playground as a youngster. My grandparents are buried in St. Peter's church yard. I have been back to Walthamstow several times (even got to go back into the old house once - in 2007 - it was being renovated). I really enjoy all of your informative walks and talks, but this one was very special to me. Thank you; love your work. I've lived mainly in Auckland N.Z. since 1966. (btw, the Flats in Bisterne Avenue used to be a rifle range back in the 50's and 60's; probably longer).

[@pauldrozdz7571]

Another engrossing vignette of your rambling life. This video brought back memories of my grandad who worked for the Metropolitan Water Board from the late 40s until his retirement in 1969, covering all areas around east London and eventually becoming 'assistant turncock' in and around Enfield in the late 50s. We often walked around his old east London manor and I can distinctly remember him telling me that we were walking above hidden rivers. What a source of information he could have been! In memory of John Agace 1903-1990

[@davidshearer8793]

Thank you John. Most interesting to an Old Leytonian now living in Western Australia. And there are plenty of hidden water courses in our beautiful suburb of Bayswater.

[@DonMurrayYT]

Thanks John, being born and bred in Walthamstow and knowing all of the walk, I really enjoyed this.

[@julieblackstock8650]

I am all the better for your upload,. Makes my Sunday evening complete. True Story.

[@MeTheRob]

Me too. Back to the Sunday dinnertime slot. Lovely.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

That’s wonderful to hear Julie and Rob

[@littleacornslandscapes2935]

Loved this video. Your enthusiasm is immense.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks so much Little Acorns

[@Mick_Holland]

It’s taken me almost a week to find the time to settle down in front of this film and it was worth the wait. The blue shack on Marlow Road and the frontage of the covered market were particular highlights for me. I had to smile at 36:30 at the bold newspaper statement, “where the Fillebrook will flow”. For a few lifetimes perhaps. Oh, the arrogance. Cheers 👍🏼

[@texano1957]

Absolutely enthralling, just loving this video….

[@londoncabby]

Great video!! Like your optimism 👍🏼👍🏼 I’m reading your book, The Other London, it’s great read if any viewers want more of John! 😀👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Brilliant many thanks indeed

[@fwof3347]

Currently sitting in the Southern Highlands in NSW Australia. I spent from 1979 til 2011 living in Walthamstow, the River Lea was the main area to play growing up as a child in the 80's the fields white hill etc, all been built on now... changed so much around the Wood Street area.

[@JohnDavis-fr3wm]

"This is one of my favourite electricity substations in the whole of London". And with that, I am fully converted. What could be better than settling down to enjoy the soothing narration and expert guidance of someone so conscious of the spirit of location, of the lost history and beauty in what the everyday folk might call mundane.

[@obrYo]

The temple on the confluence of the rivers. That put me in a good mood for the weekend. Thank you, John.

[@Robloxgdoffical]

A wonderful video and this curious lady here is very happy she messaged you. Who knows what lies beneath our streets. Hidden treasures! The Fillibrook obviously does not want to stay hidden!

[@johnbanks3054]

Walthamstow my Birth place & Whipps Cross Hospital, where my (first) daugter was born in 82 ; ) Don't time fly John good luck.

[@alisonedwards8810]

Excellent video! I saw you walk down my old street Lytton Road and pass the house that I used to live in before moving to Toronto, Canada. Very nostalgic for me! Thanks!!

[@vincezielinski2784]

Grew up in Walthamstow . Your video brought back many great memories .

[@roymeadway3592]

A great video,always love your river hunting, thanks for your posts it helps to keep us sane through these strange times

[@anthonyhatfull5484]

Takes me back John.I lived in the flats in Morgan Ave that overlooked the cricket ground at the top of Buck walk until I got married in the early 70`s. They were built at about the same time as Hainault Court. My parents moved in in 1938. The open ground off Forest Rise was called The Dip`s by we kid`s . On the left by Morgan Ave was the smallest and was always flooded.The dip on the right between Forest Rise and The Woodford New Rd was the biggest,and a wonderful safe play area for us. That big old oak tree was on top of the slope and we used to hang a rope over the branch on the right and make a swing that took me about 15 feet high. The other dip over the main rd had a flat bottom and there was an improvised cycle speedway track. In the late 50`s the council filled them all in,and that`s the flat nothing you see now??? In Bistern Ave where the flat`s (built 1958/9) was The Walthamstow Ensign small bore rifle club.The council moved us to a site in Lowhall Water treatment Work`s off Markhouse Rd. I went to school at Joseph Barratt school (then renamed Warwick Sec )in Brook Rd The Manual Instruction Centre was where we did woodworking lessons. In the middle of the Wipps Cross roundabout were underground public toilet`s that were closed many years ago possibly for economic or "Cottaging" issues or a bit of both? Sorry if I`m a bit long winded,but I spent my early life round there,and so much has changed.

[@w00df0rd]

👍thanks Anthony

[@ianmaddams9577]

Watched this on my lunch break. The passion you have for this discovery 👌

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Ian

[@Theoobovril]

Super video again, John, looking forwards to your next video of...."Where ever that may be"..

[@bc-sj7qi]

great video john...u are a human water diviner

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Ha, thanks Brian

[@ArferNower]

Excellent video as always John, Thanks

[@michaelbrown984]

Fantastic watch.so much to see and learn..make the streets of London come alive..thanks John..

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks Michael

[@kerryannestevenson6099]

I love your walks John and the running commentary.Thanks as always.

[@sallypassmore8748]

I really enjoyed this walk. Thank you so much.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Great to hear Sally

[@mushfiquem]

My friends used to live in Walthamstow in Fulbourne Road, I used to go there often. Such good memories of that neighbourhood, walking around all those shops around Wood Street and the adjacent roads.

[@hArtyTruffle]

Your knowledge is wonderfully extensive and your passion is infectious and uplifting which is much needed in these difficult times. 🙏🌞

[@mikethedigitaldoctorjarvis]

Love it John,i was born in Walthamstow.

[@LilyAlways]

Enthralling, thank you so much. I was as excited as you, every step of the way.

[@mothman411]

Thanks John. The streets of my youth, little did I know of what lurked beneath. Fascinating.

[@1958pobs]

I love the word “confluence” I’m not sure if I had heard of it much before watching your lovely films. One of the many things you have introduced to me. 🙏 How deep are the rivers, under the buildings and roads, it never crossed my mind that there you natural rivers flowing beneath us, only ones in tubes and such.

[@chrisb4504]

I'm hooked on your channel John , Sunday's don't come quick enough. Thank u and keep sharing your passion.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks very much Chris

[@ralphwinter6421]

Thanks John, thoroughly enjoyed the walk , Cheers mate...

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Ralph

[@shanemolloy2824]

I love this. The magic of nature is everywhere. One just needs to attune to it and it vitalises the soul. Great work John! I bought you book and am reading it now. TQ.

[@ton4car]

Really enjoyed this John. I think you were right about the Rising Sun pond ( the bull rush pond) not being the source. I believe this pond was fed by a leak from one of reservoirs at water works pumping station. They rebuilt the reservoir and the ponds water level dropped. Prior to the level dropping you could hire paddle boats. As a child I work my Summer holiday there for 50p a day Thanks John, So interesting 🤨

[@w75wellsy59]

The Rising Sun Pond takes me back. I spent many enjoyable days of the School holidays in the 1950's fishing there, pretty sure there wasn't any fish in there but happy days.

[@thebrothers3971]

@@w75wellsy59 There were fish in there. I caught some in the sixties

[@doghouse100148]

John I moved to Greenway avenue in 1979. In the early 1980s Thames water dug up the road from wood st station to the cricket club and buried a very large sewer pipe with 2 large tanks at both end. Greenway avenue no longer floods. But in the recent heavy rains Wood st flooded from the station to the pig and whistle pub.

[@TfL1901]

Omg this is so exciting!! I lived on Fulbourne Road (end of wood street) for 30 years, only moved away 8 months ago…. And I had no idea there was a lost river in the area! Seeing you explore a place so familiar to me, with such excitement has actually put a lump in my throat 😭 I suddenly miss home

[@stephenquinn6485]

Yes good to see the vid up.looked forward to.this love your River hunting Sir

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Cheers Stephen

[@holeephuc007]

Go to Chelmsford Road Leytonstone off Fillebrook rd. Walk down the hill to the bottom and in the middle of the road is a grate. You can hear the brook flow below. Your welcome. I understand from our house title deeds that the land on which the brook flowed belonged to the Earl of Mornington. If you can find it online or at Vestry House Museum/Leytonstone Library there exists a black and white photograph of the brook before it was built over.

[@benblumenstein7656]

That was fun!!!! Thank YOU!!!!!

[@mokumhammer]

Excellent John. Thank you

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks David

[@imranmajid1978]

Thanks for all the videos, this one in particular. I was born in Leyton as lived their all my life, until recently when I moved up north. As a young man growing up in East London I didn’t pay much attention to the beauty of the area, so why do I watch your walks (right to the end) and enjoy your rambling(!); for me - it’s nostalgia, I know some of those roads like the back of my hand! And it’s nice to listen to someone whose clearly done some research and has a true passion!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Imran - glad you’re enjoying the videos

[@richardyoung8213]

Love your walks John and your back in the home town 👍

[@ShireWitch]

Another very interesting walk, thank you John. Happy Imbolc 💚

[@myster52]

John your videos are addictive. My legs are aching from the virtual miles covered tramping along the streets of London and beyond which it would seem are paved with gold. If only I could convert the miles covered into real steps I would be clocking up well over 10000 steps per day. Thanks again your work is brilliant and indispensable.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thank you so much Peter

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

I REALLY DO NEED A DRINK NOW. WONDERFUL PRESENTATION

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Many thanks

[@johnmcgillivary2064]

I am still loving your walks just watched ," Ghosts of Epping Forests"it reminded me about that lovely smell of a forest when it has been raining , I swear I could smell it as you walked in the rain.LOVE IT " keep on walking" be safe

[@muddyshoes2939]

Really nice to bump into you the other day. Hope I didn’t disturb your recording!! Didn’t think at the time!

[@bss1346]

Brilliant film John! A great way to start the week 😊👍🏼

[@peterspencer396]

Good one John!

[@danielboulton98]

good evening John looking forward to this one

[@JohnRogersWalks]

hope you enjoyed it Daniel

[@ianjohnson2198]

Great to join you on that walk John. There was some real detective work there!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Ian

[@robjones8821]

One of your best videos. Fascinating

[@jeffpredeth9946]

Brilliant and fascinating as always young Mr Rogers. Thank you.

[@philburdett]

Another gem, sir! Thank you...

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Phil

[@damedavidfrith55]

Thanks for another lovely trip along a lost river 👍🏼☕️🧁

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks David

[@BritishBoy1971]

Excellent and so interesting. Thank you John! 🙂👍

[@ThePootle1978]

So Look forward to these Sunday night videos John excellent stuff as always 👍🏻

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Cheers Pootle

[@jasonfarr4195]

another great local walk ty John

[@yokohamatomohawk1840]

One of my favourite videos yet. I remember hanging around Wadley Road when it used to flood in the 80's. I have a physical map in my brain that follows all the dips in those roads around leytonstone, Clare, Hainult, Wadley, Esther, Kings Passage, Queens, Fairlop, that long walk home from the station down and up Fairlop, Chelmsford, Dreyton and then over past Norlington, through Sidmouth Park and beyond. I have now added the road behind the hospital and the Wood street branch. Fascinating stuff. Nice cottages up the top on Forest Rise BTW.

[@JagBetty]

That was a great adventure there John. You’ve got me in the mood for secret river hunting.😎👍

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Many thanks Jag - look forward to seeing your river hunting vids

[@daveconyard8946]

Thank you John I was Born in Fullbourne road at the lower end of wood street in 1956 as was my father going back to 1936

[@JohnRogersWalks]

It’s a great area Dave

[@EMMHQ]

Great work John .. you’re the only man that makes me homesick after moving to Australia!! Lived in Greenway avenue for 10 years and had no idea about the river but makes total sense after the recent floods at Wood Street station recently.. fascinating

[@djrudog1158]

Brilliant and enthusiastic as usual.... Great video

[@terryflynn1956]

I love your river hunting films and this one was filled with so much mystery and imagination and gripped like a who dunnit story. All clues pointed to the Filleybrooke another film I really enjoyed. Thanks John 😊👍

[@andrewcroft6855]

Another great video John, absolutely fascinating and inspirational, love your term street irons for gully gratings and manhole covers, i've gathered loads of pics of these recently on my wanderings, something i find fascinating, take care John and looking forward to the next one, "wherever that may be"

[@SuperFitzy69]

Was born and grew up in Walthamstow village. Never knew about the lost river. One of my old schools in the video as well. Warwick boys school on Barrett Road. Started there in 1981. Also, my uncle worked for Thames water for many many years. I used to go with him sometimes when I was little. Remember going to the big water plant at the waterworks corner. Maybe I’ll ask him if he knew about the river. He must have. Great video.

[@bugleboy4527]

I live in Walthamstow so great to see all these areas, very interesting.

[@tomgirldouble3249]

Brilliant video again John, I love these explorations and your reading of the land is amazing. Stay safe 🙂😷

[@liquidlivetv211]

Thank you John for yet another great, informative film. Wonderful to just forget about lockdown and walk along with you, albeit from indoors. Thank you.

[@smal1014]

Wonderful stuff!! Enjoyed the walk with it's fascinating routes and intriguing discoveries along the way!

[@GeorgeChoy]

Thanks, I enjoyed that.

[@janebaker966]

Your sense of wonder illuminates the "ordinary" places.

[@paulknight6292]

John many congratulations on another excellent educating video. I can't recall the amount of times I have walked down Peterborough Road and then into Clare Road and never even realised about the lost river ? In my journeys up and down Forest Road I like you have always been a huge admirer of the Sub Station.

[@grahamjeffery]

absolutely marvellous. Thanks so much ! really cheered me up

[@BasBoyRC]

How it has changed round Wood St, funny you went down Brooke Rd as I was born only a little way up Barret Rd. I remember in the late 1960's Brooke road flooded and of course being kids we watched the fire brigade helping. Then all of a sudden the water just went down and from what I can remember someone told me there was some sort of pump system for those drains. How true I do not know as it was long ago. Seeing the old school there as well. In the years I lived there I never knew there was a buried river at all. Great video walk and bringing back lots of memories of when I lived there.

[@SacClass650]

Wholesome and convivial stuff as ever.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Dominic

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Dominic

[@pensans1]

The Cricket field & Epping Forest was my playground in the 1950's.

[@gparry42]

This is wonderful stuff !

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Gareth

[@rrygor]

Another great walk and video. This was all over the area that I now live and work. I know we have exchanged comments about ponds and water courses in Whipps Cross before, there is a water bore hole that used to service the hospital (my now place of work). I believe that after Clare Rd, you can follow a valley across the streets, then the ground rises to Grove Green Rd, but the valley goes on to Bulwer Rd after Fillebrook Rd.

[@holeephuc007]

The valley is also in Francis Rd Leyton

[@pedallinraw]

Smile alert! He’s back for a walk 🙂👍🏻

[@morriganwitch]

Thank you John armchair sleuthing , cup of coffee in hand , walking vicariously as usual . Happy Imbolc quite fitting for these veins of of the water that give us life xxx

[@ShireWitch]

Happy Imbolc 💚

[@morriganwitch]

@@ShireWitch Blessings to You and Yours xxx

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Happy Imbolc Morrigan - Spring is on its way

[@morriganwitch]

@@JohnRogersWalks I’m So pleased xxx

[@michaelwood3099]

Lived in Greenway Ave up until 84 and never heard of it, interesting stuff.

[@robertbarling5601]

Wonderful. What more can I say. Bob.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Bob

[@janicejohnson9138]

Hi Just found your video's, I lived in the area until my 20's and they have brought back happy memories of the area. We lived in Theydon Street in the 1950's one day the flats at the end of the street were having some maintenance work done and they had to taken the floorboards up under these quite away down was running water, we were invited to take a look and I can remember us kids dropping stones down to hear the splash. I wonder if this was the Fillebrook River running underneath them.