Tunnelling under the allotments
New River at Myddelton Road
It was the banker and merchant adventurer Hugh Myddelton who had the energy and resources to put into action a plan to create the New River. He won the contract in 1609, nearly ten years after the idea had first been proposed.
In a straight line to Islington
At first the New River followed the contour lines running all the way gently downhill for 40 miles curving many miles from the direct route from Hertfordshire to Islington.
In the nineteenth century a series of major engineering works cut out the curves. Part of this series of projects involved tunnels under Bowes Park, Wood Green and Haringey .
Securing the water supply for London
In the twenty-first century the New River continues to flow quietly through cuttings and tunnels to the east reservoir in Stoke Newington where it now ends. Pumps take the water from the reservoir to the Coppermills water treatment works.
There are 20 boreholes and pumping stations between Maidens Brook and Stoke Newington, mainly along the New River. When there is more than enough water, Thames water pumps treated water into the aquifer lying about 76 metres below London. When there is a drought, the company can pump water up from the aquifer and into the New River.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 21 January 2007
