The Brent is a river within Greater London which is a tributary of the River Thames. It is 17.9 miles (29 km) long, running north-east to south-west, and it joins the Thames on the Tideway at Brentford, Hounslow.^[1]

Hydronymy and etymology[link]

A letter from the Bishop of London in AD 705 suggesting a meeting at Breguntford now Brentford, is the earliest record of this place and probably therefore that of the river, suggesting that the name may be related to the Celtic *brigant- meaning "high" or "elevated" perhaps linked to the goddess Brigantia^[2]

Geology, topography and natural history[link]

European LGM refuges, 20,000 years ago. The Thames was a minor river that joined the Rhine, in the southern North Sea basin at this time.

  Solutrean and Proto Solutrean Cultures

  Epi Gravettian Culture

.

Goring Gap, where the Thames broke through the Chilterns, seen from Lardon Chase.

The River Thames can first be identified as a discrete drainage line as early as 58 million years ago, in the Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch.^[3] Until around half a million years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire, before turning to the north east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near Ipswich. At this time the river system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from the North Wales Berwyn Mountains. The river Brent and its valley's formation was the result of glacial action during the ice age which had started some 500,000 years ago. Back then, the major drainage channel for this part of England (or early proto-Thames) was several miles to the north and travelled east, past present day Ipswich in East Anglia. The River Brent and other streams and rivers like Colne Brook and Bollo Brook either flowed in to the then river Thames or went out to sea on the path of the present day river Thames.

The arrival of an ice sheet in the Quaternary Ice Age, about 450,000 years ago, dammed the river in Hertfordshire causing large ice lakes which eventually burst their banks and caused the river to be diverted onto its present course through London. Progressively, the channel was pushed south to form the St Albans depression by the repeated advances of the ice sheet. This created a new river route aligned through Berkshire and on into London after which the river rejoined its original course in southern Essex, near the present River Blackwater estuary. Here it entered a substantial freshwater lake in the southern North Sea basin. The overspill of this lake caused the formation of the Dover Straits or Pas-de-Calais gap between Britain and France. Subsequent development led to the continuation of the course which the river follows at the present day.^[4]

Most of the bed rock of the Vale of Aylesbury is largely made up of clay and chalk that was formed at the end of the ice age and at one time was under the Proto-Thames. Also at this time the vast underground reserves of water that make the water table higher than average in the Vale of Aylesbury were created.

The last advance from that Scandinavian ice flow to have reached this far south, covered much of Northwest Middlesex and finally forced the proto-Thames to take roughly its present course. At the height of the last ice age around 10,000 BCE, Britain was connected to mainland Europe by a large expanse of land known as Doggerland in the southern North Sea basin. At this time, the Thames' course did not continue to Doggerland, but flowed southwards from the eastern Essex coast where it met the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt^[4] flowing from what are now the Netherlands and Belgium. These rivers formed a single river—the Channel River (Fleuve Manche)—that passed through the Dover Strait and drained into the Atlantic Ocean in the western English Channel.

A geological map of the London Basin; the London Clay is marked in dark brown.

The ice sheet which stopped around present day Finchley, deposited Boulder clay to form Dollis Hill and Hanger Hill. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process.^[5] Upon the valley sides there can be seen other terraces of Brickearth; laid over and sometimes interlayered with the clays. These deposits were brought in by the winds during the periglacial periods, suggesting that wide flat marshes were then part of the landscape, which the new river Brent proceeded to cut down. The steepness of the valley sides is witness to the very much lower mean sea levels caused by the glaciation locking up so much water upon the land masses, thus causing the river water to flow rapidly seaward and so erode its bed quickly downwards.

The original land surface was some 350 to 400 feet (120 m) above the current sea level. The surface had sandy deposits from an ancient sea, laid over sedimentary clay (this is the Blue London Clay). All the erosion down from this higher land surface and sorting action by these changes of water flow and direction, formed what is known as the Thames River Gravel Terraces. Since Roman times and perhaps earlier, however, the isostatic rebound from the weight of previous ice sheets, and its interplay with the eustatic change in sea level, means that the old valley of river Brent, together with that of the Thames, has been silting up again. Thus along much of the Brent's present day course one can make out the water meadows of rich alluvium, which is augmented by frequent floods.

Human history[link]

Pre-Roman to Norman history[link]

So extensive have the changes to this landscape been that what little evidence there is of man's presence before the ice came has inevitably shown signs of transportation here by water and reveals nothing specifically local. Likewise, later evidence of occupation, even since the arrival of the Romans, may lie next to the original banks of the Brent but have been buried under centuries of silt.^[6]

The most prominent pre-Roman settlement on the River Brent was apparently at Brentford. This Bronze Age site pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain, and thus predates the founding of London itself. Many pre-Roman artifacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as 'Old England'.The quality and quantity of the artefacts suggests that Brentford was a meeting point for pre-Romanic tribes. One well known Iron Age piece from about 100 BC - AD 50 is the Brentford horn-cap^[7] - a ceremonial chariot fitting that formed part of local antiquarian Thomas Layton's collection,^[8] now held by the Museum of London. Odd Roman artifacts have all so been found by the River Brent in both Brent, Brentford and Hanwell, suggesting that a trading rote may have used the river to trade with the early villages in Roman and post-Roman times.

However, can the river Brent be considered a border in the sense that the quality it possessed of dividing the land, was notable enough to be given such a descriptive title? The Brent river valley in AD 705 would have looked very different to today. Before modern day dredging the river was wider and shallower. Before the construction of its weirs, the Brent reservoir and Grand Union Canal (and its Paddington Branch, which takes much of the Brent's waters) the river would have flooded more frequently than it does today. The alluvial valley floor would therefore have been swamp. On Google Earth, the signs of many of the old drainage channels that turned the marsh into water meadow are still visible. Bordering these marshes would have been dense thickets of thorn and willow (hence the modern place names of Elthorne [the sheltering tree.from Helethorne with the 'h' being lost to elision], and Spelthorne (the tree of speech).

Grand Union Canal joining the River Brent at the end of Green Lane. The lock-gates stand on the site of the former Billetts Hart Bridge

The earliest surviving reference to the then village of Hanwell is in 959 AD, when it is recorded as Hanewelle in pledge, when Alfwyn (a Saxon) pawned his land for money to go on a pilgrimage.^[9] It was only a small hamlet on the river banks in the 10th century.

Another conjecture is that one of the possible etymologies given for this ancient parish of Hanwell is 'Han' as Saxon for boundary stone and 'well' as Saxon for fresh water or spring. The Rectory Cottage to the parish church of St Mary has a large stone of about a ton in its garden. A large land owner and historian also put forward the observation that this appeared to line up with what he maintained as traces of the parish being divided up into the Roman Centuria unit of land area, indicating that they to used this stone as a datum. However, the position of the field boundaries and roads still wait to be statistically analysed to test this hypothesis. Nevertheless, a cursory inspection of the old ordnance survey maps, blended with an appreciation of how hedges and boundary paths drift with time and use, strongly suggests that they approximated to dimensions of the quintarial limes of the Roman field system by a degree that far exceeds what would be expected by chance alone. Also, as already mentioned, the original parish is very narrow in the east-west direction. You will recall that the letter of AD 705 AD suggested a meeting at Brentford; this was to discuss a dispute between the East Saxons and the West Saxons. Thus the location was recognised as a convenient half way point or boundary. Other later historically important meetings are also recorded here. Going back a little further, evidence of the West Saxons successfully overrunning the Chilterns to the north west can be seen in the number of place names which end in ham ton and worth But then they stop, as if the parish of Hanwell and the course of the Brent are the boundary between the invading West Saxons and the last vestiges of Romano-British London which lasted until the end of the 5th century.

It has also been suggested that Han came from the Saxon han for cockerel. This would seem rather too broad a noun to serve as a place name but the spelling that appears in the Domesday Book is Hannewelle. Could Hanne – welle be derived from Han-créd -welle noting especially the stress placed on the e. The other sounds being dropped (see: Elision) to make it easier to say and a touch more euphonic. Han-créd or rather the modern synonym cock-crow was a term used until recently in both town and country to signify the boarder between night and day, and is neither one nor the other. Guns and other mechanisms are 'cocked' etc., etc. The suffix of 'Hat' is used today to divide computer hackers and before them: gun-slinger, witches etc., etc. This use of some nouns appears to be a feature of human language (also present in ancient Greek). Could 'cock' in this instance have been be used in the same way?

There is evidence of Roman settlement, that was discovered by the Hendon and District Archaeological Society and others; an urn burial of a headless child was found in nearby Sunny Hill Park. The manor is described in Domesday (1087), but the Saxon name, 'Hendun' meaning 'at the highest hill', is earlier.

Post Norman history[link]

As partly touched upon, the course of the river Brent still denotes the boundary of many part of the human landscape it passes through including the boundary of Middlesex and Hertfordshire -which is the border of the old Hundred of Gore ^[10]

By the Middle Ages malaria had reached Britain, It went on to be a great problem here in the south. There were hot spots of this disease along the course of the river Thames as well as at Romney Marsh, so one might expect that the Brent Valley could also have harboured the disease, thus living near it may have been too unhealthy to encourage many settlements. Only at places where the river gravel beds afforded a firm river bed was fording a safe and practical proposition. Some such fording places were the Roman road crossing in Brentford itself, Green Lanes in Hanwell (a reminder that this was an old droving route, the word 'green' signifying that livestock could graze whilst on their last journey), and Hanwell Bridge on the Uxbridge Road. With only a few fordable places along the river's course it would obviously have been easier to defend, and this suggests that it may have been an important border.

The original parish of Hanwell was larger than today and stretched for some three and a half miles north from the Brent's confluence with the river Thames but was only some half a mile wide, thus separating the parishes of Norwood on the east bank of the Brent and Ealing towards the west. To the north it bordered Greenford and Perivale. The original borders of the parish of Hanwell stretched from the bend of the River Brent at Greenford and followed the river all the way down to the River Thames, yet it is only just over 3,000 ft wide along the east-west line of the Uxbridge Road. Its geography, before the draining of the marshes, formed a natural boundary between the different pre- and post-Roman tribes of the south east of England.

It may have only been the Victorian era and the Romantic Period, with all its propensity to suggest everything had links to the druids, or of some other ancient religious deity, all which alluded more to fancy with which to delight the readers of the new vogue in travelogues, rather than the result of any serious study, that true significance of the river Brent and its course has become muddied more than the river itself.

The London Borough of Brent derived its name from the river itself when in 1965 the erstwhile boroughs of Willesden and Wembley were united into one.^[11]

Earliest recorded reference[link]

Brentford was a likely site of a battle recorded by Julius Cæsar between Julius Cæsar and local king, Cassivellaunus, in 54 BC.

A letter from the Bishop of London in AD 705 suggesting a meeting at Breguntford, now Brentford, is the earliest record of this place and of the river.^[2]

The river's course[link]

From Barnet to Brent Cross[link]

The origin of the River Brent in Hendon with Dollis Brook on the left and Mutton Brook on the right.

The Grand Union Canal at the confluence with the River Brent.

The River Brent starts as the junction of Dollis Brook and Mutton Brook close to Bridge Lane in Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet.^[1]

Its main tributary is Dollis Brook, around 10 km or 6 miles long, which rises in Moat Mount Open Space, Mill Hill, and flows eastward through fields and open space to King George V Playing Fields in Totteridge. It then turns south and passes between Totteridge and Whetstone. A tributary, Folly Brook, meets the Dollis not far from Woodside Park tube station. The Dollis then flows through Church End, Finchley, to Hendon.

Mutton Brook rises in Cherry Tree Wood, East Finchley. It flows westward, underground, until it comes out shortly after The Bishop's Avenue, and then through parks next to Lyttelton Road, Falloden Road and North Circular Road to meet the Dollis.

A small stream called Decoy Brook rises in Turner's Wood in Hampstead Garden Suburb^[12] and runs through Temple Fortune to join the Brent River at Riverside Drive in Hendon.^[13] Another, Clitterhouse Stream, rises at two locations on the Western slopes of Hampstead Heath. One brook feeds the Leg of Mutton Pond on West Heath, and the lower duck pond of Golders Hill Park. On the bank of the stream by Leg of Mutton Pond lies the site of a stone age encampment, which was excavated by the Hendon and District Archaeological Society in the 1970s. Another brook feeds the upper duck pond in Golders Hill Park and then flows to merge with the other branch at the lower duck pond. From Golders Hill Park the stream flows underground approximately in parallel with Dunstan Road to Childs Hill Park. At Granville Road, at the south end of the park a laundry industry emerged to use the clean water of the stream as did a nursery industry, now all disappeared. From Granville Road the stream flows underground to emerge at Clitterhouse Playing Fields and joins the Brent at Brent Cross shopping centre.

The River Brent flows alongside the A406 North Circular Road through Brent Park and then to Brent Cross and the Brent Reservoir, where it is joined by another tributary, the Silk Stream. There are several feeders to the Silk Stream including Burnt Oak Brook, Edgware Brook, the Edgwarebury Brook and Deans Brook.^[14]

From Brent Cross to Brentford[link]

From here, still closely following the North Circular Road, the river passes Stonebridge Park, south of Wembley, and under an aqueduct carrying the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. From Stonebridge Park the river turns westward, and flows under the A40 Western Avenue, River Brent flows past the Lilburne walk in to Tokyngton Recreation Ground (park) in Harlesden and through the adjacent Brent River Park^{[15][16][17] [18]} for 5 km or 3 miles until it reaches Greenford.^[19] This part of the river, as it passes through the southern boundary of Greenford Golf Course, was dredged deeper in the 1960s and a control weir built, to reduce the risk of flooding, especially of Costons Lane, along which there is a flood protection wall. Previously, Ruslip Road East would also regularly become impassable.

It then swings south again at Greenford Bridge to Hanwell,^[19] a mile away across the fields. The River Brent follows along the course of the local cyclepath, travelling along the northern pavement over Greenford Bridge and into Costons Lane 200 metres before turning eastwards into Perivale Park.^[20] It then follows a path through Perivale Park past the local running track and under the railway bridge and into Stockdove Way crossing Argyle Road at the traffic lights into Perivale Lane, where it joins up with the foot/cyclepath at St Mary's the Virgin Perivale through to Pitshanger Park.^[20] The river travels through Longfield / Perivale East Meadow and Pitshanger Riverside meadows.^[20]

The River Brent continues SE-ward past St. Mary's Church. It flows under the Great Western Railway at the 900-foot-long (270 m) Wharncliffe Viaduct,^[19] a high spanned railway viaduct carrying the main line railway from Paddington to the west of England.

Within about 500m, the River Brent is joined from the west by the main line of the Grand Union Canal at the foot of a flight of locks. After passing through Brentford Gauging Locks^[21] it reaches Brentford Dock. From here, the Brent is canalised and navigable — the river and canal pass through Osterley, Osterley Lock,^[19] and a further two locks before joining the tidal River Thames at Brentford tidal lock in Old Brentford, a mile upstream of Kew Bridge.^[15][22]

The river interects with the north to south Capital Ring Section 8, which runs alongside it from Osterley Lock to Greenford ^[23]

Industrial heritage[link]

Brentford Dock lock gates and Justin Close Brentford Dock (estate) is a basin off the Thames, with modern housing around it.

View from Neasden Recreation Ground of swans on Brent Reservoir.

Brentford Dock[link]

Brentford Dock in west London was a major trans-shipment point between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and barges on the River Thames. The building of Brentford Dock was started in 1855 ^[24] and it was formally opened in 1859. The dock yard was redeveloped in 1972 and is now Brentford Dock Marina and Brentford Dock Estate.^[25]

Brent Reservoir[link]

The Brent Reservoir (popularly called the Welsh Harp Reservoir ) is a reservoir which straddles the boundary between the London boroughs of Brent and Barnet and is owned by British Waterways. The reservoir takes its informal name from a public house called The Welsh Harp, which stood nearby until the early 1970s. In a recent survey, a large number fish were captured in the reservoir and a joining parts of the River Brent and Silk Stream, 95% of which were Roach. However, fishing is prohibited in the reservoir itself.

The plans for the construction laid in 1803 were abandoned because of cost, but by 1820 there was not enough water to supply the Grand Union Canal and the Regent's Canal, so under an Act of Parliament in 1819, the Regent's Canal Company decided to dam the River Brent and create a reservoir in order to guarantee a sufficient water supply for their canals during dryer weather, an accidental damming of the feeder streams and similar times of need.

The reservoir was constructed by William Hoof between 1834 and 1835. The water flooded much of Cockman’s Farm, to supply the Regent's Canal at Paddington. It was called “Kingsbury Reservoir” and its 69 acres (280,000 m²) spread between Old Kingsbury Church and Edgware Road. Hoof, who was awarded the tender for the work (including the construction of a bridge) received the sum of £2,740 and six shillings.^[26] In August 1835, a few months before completion, four brothers named Sidebottom drowned in an accident.

The Welsh Harp Conservation Group (WHCG) managed in 1972 to fight off a local development plan. The WHCG organises management work, such as annual refurbishment of the tern rafts and works with Brent and Barnet councils on the site’s management, including applying for National Lottery bids.^[26]

Parks and nature reserves[link]

Perivale East Meadow and Pitshanger Riverside Medows

The 3 meadows of the Longfield/Perivale East Meadow and Pitshanger Riverside Medows parks, with natural riverbanks form part of the River Brent flood plain and are the home to mallard ducks, moorhens, kingfishers and grey wagtails.^[20] Heron can also be seen along the river.^[27] It also passes trough Perivale Park, which has had a few herons recently.^[20]

Brent River Park

Brentham Meadows, Brent River Park, Ealing. This open space is kept as a hay meadow, cut once a year so wildflowers and insects can flourish. The photo is taken where Western Avenue crosses the River Brent.

Brent River Park is one of London’s larger urban green spaces. The natural landscape has recently been improved through the River Brent Project and further plans are proposed for future improvements. A new cycle path and wildlife conservation areas were opened in 2008.^{[15][17] [18]} The borough's riverside park land community space will have its suitability for informal ball games improved over the next few years under the River Brent Project. The spaces are also popular with local dog walkers, children people out walking and local nature lovers.^[28]

The whole of Brent River Park/ River Brent Park area is now designated as a nature conservation area and was so popular it received the Mayor of London's seal of approval by winning £400,000 for park projects and improvements in 2009, through the mayoral assembly’s West London Priority Parks Award.^[5] The park is now full of flora and fauna, along with its adjacent meadows and colonies of bats.^[29]

Tokyngton Park

The River Brent also enters Tokyngton Park in Tokyngton, Brent.^[30][31][32] The extensive flood prevention work undertaken during both the 1940s and 1970s, had led to this section of river in Tokyngton Park in Tokyngton, Brent, being straightened and enclosed in concrete. The river thus provided little or no recreational value to the local populous, whilst the quality of wildlife habitat was poor. During 1999, a local partnership was formed between the local authority, the Environment agency, local community groups and local firms, to implement improvements to the park for both people and wildlife.^[30][31][32]

The park can be accessed either locally by foot or via an official urban walking route from Hanwell railway station and Brent Lodge Park; Perivale tube or most stops served by the Number 95 bus service. Car parking is plentiful in the streets adjacent to Hanwell railway station. To return to the start of the walk, take Number 95 bus from Western Avenue to Greenford Red Lion, then the E3 bus to Hanwell railway station. Public toilets can be found in Brent Lodge Park.^[29][33]

Brent Lodge Park and the Churchfields

Brent Lodge Park (or BLP) and Churchfields, which is located The Brent River Park, is a pocket of the countryside within the now urban environment of the London Borough of Ealing. the park is bordered by the River Brent on the west and south and has become one of the favourite places for locals to go for tranquillity and chilling out.^[33]

The park got an EU/Department for Communities and Local Government Green Flag Award in 2009. The Brent River and Canal Society and a the local park ranger Tony Ord look after the park.^[33]

Brent Lodge Park and the Churchfields is another park along the course of the river as it passes through Ealing.^[33] The park is assessable from Hanwell train station by either the E3 and E1 on bus stops on Greenford Avenue, then the 83, 92, 195, 207, 282, 427 and 607 stops on the Uxbridge Road and Ealing Hospital, or a short walk to the entrance on the land by the hospital or via West Middlesex Golf Course. Vehicular parking is limited within the car park at the end of Church Road and parking along Church Road being restricted during summer and weekends. The hospital’s park is only for the hospital staff, patients and visitors to use.^[33]

It contains both public toilets, a café, animal centre and Millennium maze. The extensive hay meadows and grand trees making it a great place to spot many forms of fauna and flora.^[33]

Within the bounds of the site there is a grade 2 listed stable block (it contains an animal centre) which is the only remains of the old manor house, which sadly burned down in the 1930s.^[33]

Wembley riverside walk A public riverside walk (Wembley riverside walk) leads to Wembley Stadium.^[28] The River Brent & Grand Union Canal Circular Tour and Ealing Cycling Campaign Routes and Rides follow part of the River Brent. Where the route follows the River Brent, it does so as closely as possible on well-made paths and roads.^[34]

Notable buildings[link]

Ealing Hospital from the River Brent.

Ealing Hospital was re-built near the banks of the River Brent in the 1940s, on the same spot as the Victorian Ealing Dispensary.^[35][35]

Within the bounds of the site of Brent Lodge Park and the Churchfields there is a grade 2 listed stable block (it contains an animal centre) which is the only remains of the old manor house, which sadly burned down in the 1930s.^[33]

Unit 9 at River Brent Business Park, Trumpers Way was up for let as of April 2011. The property was a converted terrace house. There were no Land Registry records of this property selling since 1 January 1995, when the Land Registry records began.^[36]

Environmental issues[link]

Pollution[link]

River Brent was badly polluted since 1886 after contamination caused by sewage disposal outlets, rubber works and the early oil industry. The more recent rise in the rate of motor traffic has also become a major reason behind modern day, upstream pollution.

High sewerage levels had killed off the local trout at Brentford by the early 1920s. The river was cleaned out and the sewerage sent in to a separate underground pipe by World War 2. A few trout began to return in the 1990s.

The water quality upstream in the River Brent, and urban diffuse pollution, which has affected biological oxygen levels in Ealing ^[37][38] and the area in Brent is affected by diffuse urban pollution and drain misconnections as of 2010.^[38][39]

The Silk Stream tributry was still the victim of at least one sewage outflow pipe in 2010.^[40]

Thames Valley Water was called in 2010 to replace a collapsed sewer pipe in Queens Walk, Ealing, but found that a stretch of town houses were in fact not properly connected to the sewerage system when they had been built in 2000, with 10 years worth of waste water, sewage, washing machine and dishwasher water running into the River Brent. The Environment Agency’s, environment management team leader, Sarah Mills, said that "Approximately eight to nine town houses have been found to be misconnected, which Thames Water have advised would have occurred when they were built around the year 2000.".^[41] A later, but thankfully much smaller, sewerage leak occurred nearby on the 3rd of April, 2011.^[42]

Culverting and flood alleviation works[link]

The process of corseting the river began during the 20th century. The River Brent’s width was heavy limited due to the water that was derived by the Canal Feeder. The river was about 5 feet in depth during the dry season. At the time of heavy downpour, the level of the river water rose to about 14 feet and flooded on occasion to. Local flood alleviation work has mostly taken place from the 1940s to the 1970s, as Brent's Tokyngton Park.^[30] Brentford's section has been modified several times since the late 19th century.

The River Brent, proto-Brent River Park and surrounding area almost became a section of the Greater London Council's flood prevention scheme plans for Ealing in the 1970s.The Brent flood prevention scheme was finally completed in the 1980s.^[5]

The intermittent flooding in the 1970s was causing significant damage to buildings in Perivale’s Costons Lane area and roads and parkland. The then controversial proposal was to channel the Brent into a concrete trough, possibly covered with a concrete lid, some 75 ft wide. The planned scheme had allowed natural flood plains, away from housing, roads and riverside footpaths to soak up the excessive water flow to reduce the level of flooding through the passage of the flood water into the underlying ground water level.^[5]

Parts of the river's course that had been buried under concrete for most of the 20th century were planned to be uncovered to revitalise the area in 2008.^[11]

Environmental regeneration[link]

The Brent River and Canal Society (BRCS)[link]

The Brent River and Canal Society (BRCS) volunteer group was founded in 1972 by several Hanwell residents, lead by Luke Fitzherbert, under the umbrella of Hanwell Preservation Society, had taken the initiative to clear the river of two years' worth of dumped rubbish.^[5]

The society went on to campaign vigorously in the 1970s for the creation of Brent River Park, which was set up in 1975, saving it from the then Greater London Council's flood alleviation scheme plans for the London Borough of Ealing, at the time. There were mostly plans to resolve extensive flooding which occurred periodically in the Perivale and Ealing areas. The Brent flood alleviation scheme was finally completed in the 1980s. Ultimately, this helped to achieve the Brent River and Canal Society objectives of a continuous urban walk along the river’s course from Hanger Lane to Brentford. The first was Fitzherbert Walk, which passes over the river from Hanwell Bridge on the Uxbridge Road to where the river joins the Grand Union Canal opened in 1983 and was named after Luke Fitzherbert. A new footpath underneath the Wharncliffe Viaduct in Hanwell was opened in 1985 and is now part of Brent’s part of the now popular The Capital Ring walking route.^[5]

Local community projects[link]

There was a litter removal operation on the 19th and 20 August 2010, in Brent Lodge Park, Hanwell. Volunteers cleared up litter from river and banks to help improve the area for residents and wildlife. The clean-up was to be followed by some family fun activities from 1pm-5pm, including river dipping and refreshments.^[43]

School children from Alperton Community School were also involved in an Active Citizen Scheme along with the Environment Agency, to remind people not to pollute the Wealdstone Brook and River Brent through the abuse of the street drains.^[44] It is reckoned that littering, old plumbing and disposing of waste such as engine oil are destroying local fish spawning grounds.^[44]

February 2011 saw several community projects launched to clean up the River Brent to reduce the risk of damage to local fish spawning grounds.^[45]

The 'River Brent Project' regeneration scheme.[link]

The River Brent Business Park seen across the Grand Union Canal. in the photo are Cole-Parmer Instrument Co at no 3, and P A G Sheet Metal at no 4.

The 'River Brent Project' regeneration scheme is aimed at improving the local environment, wild live habitat and flood prevention among other things.^{[11][17][46][46][47]}

Work at Tokyngton Park, Brent[link]

The extensive flood prevention work undertaken during both the 1940s and 1970s had led to this section of river in Tokyngton Park in Tokyngton, Brent, being straightened and enclosed in concrete. The river thus provided little or no recreational value to the local populace, whilst the quality of wildlife habitat was poor. During 1999, a local partnership was formed between the local authority, the Environment agency, local community groups and local firms, to implement improvements to the park for both people and wildlife.^[30][31][32]

It was hoped that this provides a new lease of life for the river and enhances the quality of the local environment by removing the river from its concrete banks and to create an attractive public open space. The existing concrete river channelling and casing would be removed and the river’s coarse modified to create new meanders in the middle area of the 'River Park' zone. The removal of some existing paths and provide new and the provision some new street furniture and a fixed fibre glass gazebo would also occur if further plans go forth.^[30][31] It will also try to emphasise on community participation in the local project.^[32]

The Brent Cross Cricklewood development[link]

Under plans for the Brent Cross Cricklewood development, the River Brent, which is currently (as of May 2011) in a 40 year old concrete channel, and its tributary Clitterhouse Stream will be realigned and restored to a more natural state, incorporating a wetland environmental area and a public riverside walkway. Flood risk is to be reduced by restoring the flood plain and the addition of sustainable drainage, such as green roofs and water permeable paving to reduce surface water, and thus flooding, in future times of heavy rain. New bridges over the river are to be designed so that they will be less easily blocked during a flood.^[48][49] According to the UK Government's Environment Agency, the development will provide opportunities to adapt the site to climate change, and give the community attractive recreational space and improved wildlife areas.^[50]

Who is involved-^[49]

• Scott Wilson Group plc
• RPS
• ERM Consultants
• Joseph Partners
• London Borough of Barnet^[51]

Notable floods[link]

The earliest flood record is 1682.

• 1682- A very violent storm of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning, caused a sudden flood, which did great damage to the town of Brentford. The whole place was overflown; boats rowed up and down the streets, and several houses and other buildings were carried away by the force of the waters.^[52][52]
• 1841- Brentford was flooded by the Brent Reservoir becoming overfull so that the overflow cut a breach in the earth dam. A wave of frothing and roaring water swept down the river's course taking all before it causing fatalities. Several were lives lost.^[53]

• 1976- In the summer of 1976 Britain experienced its worst drought since records began; with Water Companies declaring it would take six or seven years for their empty, dry reservoirs to fill again. However, in August the following year, torrential rain not only filled but overwhelmed the Brent reservoir again, forcing the sluice gate to be opened to their fullest extent. It carried on raining heavily throughout the night. Even before the river broke its banks, the drains had started to overflow with sewerage. People awoke during the night to find their homes being flooded. Commuters set for to work in the morning to find the North London streets grid-locked due to wide spread flooding of the Brent river. Trains could not run. Hundreds ended up homeless and hundreds of shops and businesses had to close to clear up the mess. Roads that were unaffected by the water and sewage were awash with the dozens and dozens of news-crews covering the mayhem.

• 2007- August saw heavy rain cause a short bout of flash flooding in Brentford and Hanwell which covered several roads and disrupted both road and rail travel.

• On 30 Nov 2009- The Environment Agency warned residents of a flooding along River Brent from Hendon to Brentford, after a day of notably heavy rain. Several premises were temporarily flooded in Brentford and Perivale.^[54]

In literature and poetry[link]

Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman in his poem Middlesex.

Gentle Brent, I used to know you
Wandering Wembley-wards at will,
Now what change your waters show you
In the meadowlands you fill!
Recollect the elm-trees misty
And the footpaths climbing twisty
Under cedar-shaded palings,
Low laburnum-leaned-on railings
Out of Northolt on and upward to the heights of Harrow hill.

Imagery[link]

• 

  River Brent at Brent Cross. The Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 scale mapping shows a sea of dark green here as the A406 North Circular Road and the A41 Hendon Way meet at the Brent Cross Flyover. A small weir impounds a head of water as the river flows down towards the Brent Reservoir.

• 

  A drain outflow into the River Brent This is located on the right hand bank.

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  The River Brent at Vicar's Bridge, Alperton. Here the river serves as the boundary for two London boroughs: Ealing (left bank) and Brent (right bank).

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  A storm drain discharging into the River Brent.

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  The River Brent at Hanwell Bridge, Hanwell, W7 See 205141 for view from bridge on the opposite side of the road.

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  Remains of a weir on the River Brent Looking westward from the right hand bank.

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  Hanwell Bridge, Uxbridge Road - over River Brent - looking east Morning 8:30am

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  The confluence of Rivers Thames and Brent. The motorised barge is heading up the River Brent. From this point as far as Hanwell the Brent has been canalised and shares its course with the main line of the Grand Union Canal. From Hanwell the Brent can be traced to various sources in the Barnet area.

• Brent River 0.JPG

  River Brent near Greenford.