Cinderella River: The evolving narrative of the River Lee

摘要

This is an exploration of the River Lee from its source above Luton to where it meets the Thames at Leamouth. The context is the AHRC funded Hydrocitizenship programme that aimed to explore the evolving relationship between communities and water through research by eight academic partners across four distinct case study sites across the UK. These are Shipley, Yorkshire, Borth, Mid Wales, Bristol and the Lee Valley. My strategy was to walk the river to gain insight into how it is managed along its entire course and to explore the intricacies of a waterway that has to function as a navigation, source of potable water, drain, flood relief facility, biodiverse habitat, recreational amenity and visitor attraction, yet retain a sense of integrity.