Pool River and National Cycle Route 21 - geograph

The River Pool is a tributary of the

River Ravensbourne The River Ravensbourne is a tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. It flows into the tidal River Thames at Deptford, where its tidal reach is known as Deptford Creek. Geography The Ravensbourne is 11 miles (17 km) i ...

. It is 5.1 km (3 miles) in length, and rises with its tributaries between

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

and

West Wickham West Wickham is an area of South East London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Bromley with some parts lying in the London Borough of Croydon. It lies south of Park Langley and Eden Park, west of Hayes and Coney Hall, north of ...

in the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

. It then flows northwards through

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,3 ...

, and

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

, to join the Ravensbourne in

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...

. Two of its tributaries are the

River Beck The River Beck is one of the tributaries of the River Ravensbourne in south London. The source of the River Beck is in Spring Park () where Shirley and West Wickham meet. For its first mile or so it forms the border between the London boroughs o ...

and the Chaffinch Brook. For much of its length the river lies in a

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

. Land on either side is given up to sports grounds and a flood watch is kept continually on it. In New

, the River Pool Walkway, running north from Lennard Road near the

Midland Bank Sports Ground HSBC Sports and Social Club is a sports ground in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, owned by HSBC bank. The ground was used for one First XI cricket match by Kent County Cricket Club and hosted one match in the 1993 Women's Cricket W ...

and

Cator Park Cator Park is a park in Kidbrooke, Greenwich. It has been won awards for placemaking, biodiversity, and landscape. It was resigned by HTA Design in collaboration with the London Wildlife Trust London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, i ...

, includes a conservation site and naturalised areas; the route is part of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

. At Sydenham, the section of the river that ran in a culvert under the gas works has been opened up and landscaped. In June 2009, London Mayor

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

fell into the River Pool whilst promoting volunteering to clean up the waterway.''
Boris Johnson stumbles into river
'', BBC News, 4 June 2009 (Accessed 22 Jul 2010)

External links

Details of London's rivers, including River Pool

Environment Agency Flood Report

References

Pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

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