Читать книгу Walking in London. Park, heath and waterside - 25 walks in London's green spaces онлайн

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The Lea, Brent and Wandle are the three major tributaries but others feature too. In the very centre of London, the Fleet, Westbourne and others have been lost to underground culverts, but against that can be set London’s canal system. Between them, the rivers and canals provide many quiet spaces in which wildlife can flourish, as well as untroubled routes for walkers.

To sum up: London is built on impermeable clays across the centre; porous chalk to the south and north-west; and gravel toppings appear throughout. Each of these, and little local outcrops too numerous to count, combined with the flow of London’s many rivers, give rise to different habitats, and contribute to a diversity of wildlife which is still apparent to this day. It may require significant human intervention to maintain it – often in conflict with forces of human self-interest that seek to destroy it – but that diversity is a glory of London. Any Londoner should be proud of it, and any visitor can seek it.

London’s open spaces