River Quaggy - River Engineering

River Engineering

In the 1960s the River Quaggy within Chinbrook Meadows, Sutcliffe Park, and other parks was channelized into long straight concrete culverts to alleviate flooding. In Chinbrook Meadows the channelized river was closed off behind tall hedges and iron fences, this cut the park in two with the larger part to the east of the river. In the early 2000s however the concrete channel with its fences and hedges was demolished and river was remodelled to give a natural, meandering appearance with a small flood plain; this was to encourage wild plants and animals back to the area and to be more pleasant and attractive for the public. There are several wooden foot bridges over the river, that replaced the concrete ones with iron fences. The regeneration was completed on 1 October 2002 and cost a reported £1.1million. Since the restoration Chinbrook Meadows has won the Green Flag Award in two years in a row. Shortly after the regeneration was completed the Quaggy was given a similar regeneration further downstream within Sutcliffe Park, a mile and a half to the north.