The shocking state of the New River Path

Happy New Year and I'm on the warpath already!

This New Year's day the E family decided to get close to nature and take a stroll down the New River path to the West Reservoir.

Looks lovely eh? (Those of you who've clicked through to the photoset)

Well it came very close to being a disaster. Indeed, if it were not for watching the sheer joy of my daughter at wading through mud in her brand new wellies, the sight of the nearly grown swans sitting bold as brass on the side of the river close enough to touch


or loving the fascination that nipperette showed with the frozen river and how she could crack the ice, I can't help feeling that my enjoyment of this walk would have been totally ruined.

Why?

The shocking and disgusting state of the path which was strewn with bottles, cans, fag packets, fast food packaging and all manner of other rubbish. Not to mention the dumped mattress, the glass pane dumped or the blue plastic bags hanging from the trees.

I almost exploded at the terrible state of the water near one of the gates which was choked with cans, bottles and other foul stuff.

Now I was meant to be enjoying a walk with the family, so I resisted snapping photos and walked. I have been known to spoil family outings in the past through my incessant photo taking of rubbish and I was determined to just enjoy being out with the little 'uns and Mr E. So there are no pictures of the mattress, the glass, the choked up water, the plastic bags but I would be lying if I said that I hadn't secretly snapped a couple of shots


And it bothered me such a lot that today I composed a letter:

Dear Thames Water,

I wish to complain about the terrible state of the New River in North London, in paticular the stretch between Harringay Green Lanes and the West Reservoir. On a recent walk with my children along the New River Path, there was a shocking amount of litter and rubbish, some of which must have been a danger to the wildlife we saw, including plastic bags and bottles, cans and fast food packaging. There was also a lot of fly tipping including a dumped mattress, glass and other household items. The areas that were most noticable were at the Seven Sisters gate and the Green lanes N4 gate near Finsbury Park but there was hardly a stretch of the path that did not have rubbish on it and there was also a considerable amount in the water.
I appreciate that while you are not responsible for this shocking behaviour, I would like to know if there are plans to clear this area of the terrible litter and rubbish that is blighting this natural 'breathing space' and ruining the enjoyment of walkers like my family and me. I would also suggest (although it may not help with the fly tipping) that bins are provided near gates and arrangements made with contractors to empty them on a regular basis.
I also walked the Enfield part of the New River in the summer and it was virtually litter free and beautifully kept. It would be appreciated if the stretch that runs through this area could be given similar attention as soon as possible.

I look forward to your reply

with links through to the photos.

We shall see...