The river Wandle once offered wonderful trout fishing, up to the latter part of the last century it was prized by anglers including, some say, Lord Nelson who fished here two centuries ago, before annihilating Napoleon's fleet at the battle of Trafalgar.

The rivers swift flows were increasingly harnessed to power water mills producing everything from silk to gunpowder, but also to take away the effluent, and, by the 20th century the river was all but dead!

Now, after centuries of abuse and neglect, and the indignity of running red, pink & blue from the dyes of the calico printers, and worse, we are learning to treasure the Wandle. As a result, the kingfishers, water voles and mayflies have returned.

In the 1960s the Wandle was officially designated an open sewer. A major factor in its recovery since then can be traced back to the privatisation of Britain's water industry. In our area Thames Water has invested millions of pounds into improving water quality.

In March 2003 brown trout were released into the Wandle for first time in 100 years, thanks to Alan Suttie