The Old River Lea
This part of the Bow Back Rivers was the main navigation channel of the Lea until the Hackney Cut was made in the middle of the 18th Century. The stone structure is the remains of Old Ford Tide Gates, which were abandoned what Carpenter's Road was built further East, in the 1930s. There were originally tide gates either side of the stone island, and a footbridge over the top. Since this picture, the off-side channel is completely silted up and overgrown (deliberately to preserve wild-life habitat).
