River Fleet CSO, LON - 2012/14

Ojay, GAJ, The Vicar, Adders...

The River Fleet is one of London's big 3 'Lost Rivers'. It was canalised between 1670/4 and in later years culverted

 It's headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath, each of which was dammed into a series of ponds, the Hampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds, in the 18th century

At the southern edge of Hampstead Heath these descend underground as sewers and join in Camden Town

Today, the Fleet is a combined sewer, and any tranquil waters that once were are certainly no longer

Long before it was buried, it was an open sewer and contributed to the great stink and the great plague of London until J Bizzle came along with his interceptors in 1859

Google lost rivers/drains of London and the first indexed hit is almost certainly the Fleet.

It's hardly surprising, as it's old and epic as far as London's main drainage goes.

More so if you actually invest some time properly exploring anything other than the stretch around Farringdon Road that is.

That said, despite how awkward the Fleet can be it's certainly a rewarding one, especially if you throw the Fleet's storm relief in as well for good measure.

I'd like to acknowledge some of the very few masters who have put some legwork into the place over the years; JD, Stoop, Siologen & teh Otter.

I've tried to include the more significant bits of the system (including the Fleet Storm Relief),
 having traversed the majority of the system now over the last few years.

To make sense, I'll start it from the upstream, although we spent much of the earlier trips piss balling about on the downstream sections, but hey.

Kentish Town is where we got as far as, before it got ridiculous in terms of stooping and getting dunked in London's finest nuggets...

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