Wasteland wandle

“Plenteous waters, very clean and pure, of a sky-blue color,‌

Exquisitely polished, silvery, now narrowing, now expanding.”‌

“No clearer or diviner waters ever sang with constant lips of the land which giveth rain from heaven”‌‌

“Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow i Of crystal, wandering water, i Thou art an emblem of the glow i Of beauty—the unhidden heart.”

“O Thames! I make thee promise here,‌ To honor thee, and protect thee dear,‌

Though time may mar thy flowing course,‌ Thy waters shall remain my source.”‌

The River Wandle “is littered with old tin cans, scraps of iron, broken bottles, and miscellaneous rubbish of all kinds.”

(Courtney Williams, 1945). Studies Estimate that over 14 Million items of litter are in UK Rivers.

An estimated 4,000 litres of diesel leaked into the River Wandle in February 2025. Just 1 litre of oil is enough to contaminate 1 million litres of water putting wildlife at severe risk.

Thames Water has dumped sewage into the River Wandle for nearly 124 hours over the last 3 years. In England water companies in 2024 spilled raw sewage for a record time of 3.61 million hours into rivers and the sea.

Only 14% of Rivers in England are considered to be in‌ ‌‘good ecological health’ and ALL rivers fail to meet required chemical standards.‌

poems 1. Walt Whitman- ‘Rivers and Streams’ 2. John Ruskin on the River Wandle 3. Edgar Allan Poe- ‘To a River’ 4. Willian Wordsworth- ‘To the River Thames’

By Frankie N