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This is the October 2026 edition of the Save Lea Marshes Newsletter. Yes, we are a little earlier in the month this time, as we have some events and information that need to go out in advance.
RIVER ACTIONS AND REACTIONS
As we have previously mentioned, SLM is becoming increasing involved in looking after the River Lea and campaigning with others on the Rights of Rivers
. Recent key allies in this work are Surfers Against Sewage and Kincentric. Both have announcements that we are keen to pass on:
Surfers Against Sewage and Leaside have got together to organise a Vigil for the River Lea to rally Hackney residents behind a clean-water campaign. An evening of river stories, comedy and MP-lobbying at Leaside on Sunday 25 October from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. as part of the Surfers Against Sewage Campaign to strengthen the Government's Clean Water Bill. Read more about the event here: https://hackneycitizen.co.uk/2026/10/12/vigil-river-lea-clean-water-campaign/. Tickets are available from https://www.tickettailor.com/events/surfersagainstsewage1/2456378. SLM will have representatives there, so if you are coming along, do say hello.
Kincentric Leadership is running a live 12-week online learning community course exploring "what becomes possible when we take seriously the fact that we live in a sacred, interdependent and animate world: a shared journey into sensing, relating and organising as part of the wider web of life, to help build connections of like-minded people". The Lead Facilitator will be Justine Huxley. Dates are 18 November to 3 February (with a two-week break), Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m.. For more information go to https://www.kincentricleadership.org/online-course. A discount of 15% is offered to anyone involved in river rights and restoration networks or "rivery" things in the U.K. (use the discount code RIVER26
).
Too late for anyone else to go now (3rd to 18th October), but I thought I would mention a fabulous event that a friend got me a ticket for last week. It was a site-specific immersive special presentation of Waterbody created by by Studio Marshmallow and organised by the British Film Institute at St. Martin's in the Fields Church, about a journey through the hidden connections between landscapes, ecosystems and ourselves. It featured work by the author Robert McFarlane and included an art exhibition on hidden rivers and, in a totally dark room, a breath-taking film where raindrops turned into London rivers and then global rivers. It was very much at one with our featured book (see below) and the work SLM and others are currently doing on rivers. I hope it gets repeated sometime for more people to see.
On Sunday 11 October, our friends at the Wildlife Gardeners of Haggerston met some of us at SLM for a walk along the Old River Lea, to demonstrate the work that they have been doing with Nature Works to naturally restore the river and its banks and to help encourage and sustain invertebrates. If you are sorry that you missed it, there will be another opportunity on Sunday 15 November, meeting at Friends Bridge, London E10 5SG. Free tickets are available via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rewilding-the-old-lea-walk-tickets-2003430186619.
BOOK NOOK and BOOK LAUNCH
Keeping on the watery theme, this month's recommended book is Confessions of a London River Hunter, by Psycho-geographer, writer and filmmaker John Rogers (with an introduction by Ian Sinclair) and published by Three Imposters. London is a city of 350 rivers and streams; some have legendary and mystical associations and others are buried deep below the City Streets. John Rogers' book explores London's rivers above and below. The book is being launched by Houseman's Bookshop in King's Cross on Monday 9 November at 7.00 p.m. Booking is required on a pay-what-you-can basis or you can get a free entry with a previously purchased copy of the book on request by emailing the bookshop. To attend this interesting event go to https://thelostbyway.com/2026/10/book-launch-announcement.html.
CAMPAIGNS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN..
Thames Water has now established a Rye Meads Steering Group to bring together various representatives who want to save the nature reserve, including local and regional government groups, community groups and the Hoddeston Society. The group last met about six weeks ago and is due to meet on 19 October (just before this newsletter goes out), to discuss the future, since the RSPB has decided not to continue with the site. The Hoddeston Society says it won't accept any model that diverges from the true meaning of open to the public
. A petition has been signed by over 63,000 people and is still open to signatories: to sign go to https://https://www.change.org/p/save-rye-meads-nature-reserve.
They help grow our food, store carbon, recycle nitrates and support 90% of the world's plants. Are we talking about farmers? No, our more unsung heroes: fungi. Plantlife is attending COP17 in Armenia to launch the world's first Global Strategy for Fungal Conservation, developed with leading international experts. It's an important step to building a strategy to further scientific knowledge and understanding of fungi, finding out more about the rarer species and working towards better conservation. A shocking fact is that for the benefits that fungi bring to the environment. To help right this wrong Plantlife are running a special appeal to give £20 to its Fund Fungi Campaign go to https://www.plantlife.org.uk/donations/save-the-world-we-cannot-see/?donation-type=one-off&donate&amount=20.00 .
AND FINALLY...
Save Lea Marshes is having a meet-up on Friday 30 October at the Curve Garden, Dalston Junction E8 from 4:00 p.m.to 6.00 p.m. If anyone fancies joining us, we'll be wearing our badges and T-shirts, so do come and say hello and find out more about what we are currently doing.