London's forgotten river and the barrister who saved it

When Paul Powlesland first moored his boat on the Roding, the river was choked with slime and garbage. Now, a dedicated community is keeping it clear, and Powlesland is tackling a new challenge.

The Roding is London’s largest forgotten river. From its source at the perimeter of Stansted Airport, it fidgets its way south through the Essex countryside, reaching London’s outer limits just shy of Epping Forest. Here, it endures every modern indignity: scythed by motorways and concrete bridges; choked with sewage and rubbish; canalised, fly-tipped, …