Friends of the New River Walk back in action
With practical and moral support from Canonbury Society and Friends of Canonbury Square, a group of Canonbury residents came together in January 2025 to re-energise the Friends of the New River Walk (FNRW). FNRW was originally formed in 1994 and, under the leadership of architect and local resident, Jack Lambert, played a central role in the 1998 restoration, which, in addition to reviving a green corridor in the heart of Canonbury, brought to light the historic significance of part of the waterway as the only original New River channel in North London in terms of layout and puddled clay lining.
Taking forward this 30-year legacy of social, environmental and heritage activism, FNRW aim to collaborate with the London Borough of Islington (LBI) and other stakeholders to enhance and look after this historic, green-blue urban space. The group’s values are threefold:
- Community: To encourage social interaction, cohesion and wellbeing in Canonbury, and beyond, through inclusive community-based activities and events.
- Environment: To facilitate and contribute to the care of the natural environment and biodiversity of the New River Walk, the heart and lungs of Canonbury.
- Heritage: To safeguard the cultural heritage and promote the significance of the New River Walk and its historic ties to the New River.
FNRW are clear about the necessity of removing accumulated silt from the waterway as an important part of any long-term conservation strategy. While not opposed to the minor use of revetments to prevent soil erosion and increase biodiversity, FNRW emphasise the importance of preserving the heritage value of the waterway and that any revetments should not substantially alter the contours of the waterway consolidated during earlier restoration works. Several of the revetments added during the 2023 restoration, especially to the short section, have disfigured the waterway, a modification that negatively impacts the historic value of the NRW and requires careful rectification.
In 2025, the Friends worked to set themselves up as a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) with the Charity Commission, contacting local councillors and LBI staff regarding effective ways for managing the park and reaching out to the broader Canonbury community, including residents of the Marquess Estate. FNRW activities included sponsoring aquatic plants, such as waterlilies, to contain the spread of duckweed, a summer photography competition, and a festive gardening session in December.
In 2026 the Friends continue to collaborate with LBI and Groundwork, a social and environmental enterprise and former partner in the 1998 restoration of the NRW, to enhance the natural environment, historic significance and social impact of this green-blue public asset. FNRW will also be exploring avenues towards registration with Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.
If you notice an issue that you would like to see rectified in the New River Walk, report it in an email sent to the following three addresses: Andrew.Hillier@islington.gov.uk, Lilybelle.Marrion@islington.gov.uk, friends@fnrw.org.uk
If you would like to get involved, get in touch by emailing friends@fnrw.org.uk. For more information visit the FNRW website: www.fnrw.org.uk
— Marilena Alivizatou
Friends of the New River Walk
The New River was built in the early 17th Century as an aqueduct to convey drinking water from a spring in Hertfordshire to a reservoir in Myddleton Square, behind Sadler’s Wells. Canonbury is fortunate in having a long section of the original waterway and this provides a very pleasant area for walking and a lovely outlook for many houses. The maintenance and cleaning of the waterway is undertaken by Council staff supported by volunteers, including the Friends of the New River Walk.
The Friends are made up of a group of Canonbury residents working to encourage and share the long-term stewardship of the New River Walk – a unique place of calm and tranquillity in the heart of the neighbourhood. The Friends launched its own website in 2025: https://www.fnrw.org.uk/.
New River Walk Restoration
A message from the the Friends of the NRW, April 2024
It has been unusually tempestuous on the New River Walk of late. As many of us will be aware, Islington Council undertook to renovate both sections of the NRW to contend with the increasing levels of silt and subsequent aeration and algae problems. The messy and unsightly period of excavation and earthwork has happily come to an end, but the sticky business of what to do with the resulting silt unfortunately has not.
The budget for the renovation work was fixed and, by their own admission, the good people of Islington Council did not anticipate quite the amount of silt that there would be. As a consequence, the ‘revetments’, originally planned to be small and unobtrusive, have turned out to be very much larger and character-changing than certainly we at the Friends of the New River Walk would have wished. We feel that the nature of the changes do significantly alter the form of the New River, particularly on the southern section, and do not feel these changes are an improvement, particularly given the extent to which they narrow the watercourse.
We have liaised with LBI on this over meetings and emails, and requested that the revetments be removed. We have, so far, had absolutely no joy whatsoever with an intransigent council. They are prepared to admit that the revetments are larger than planned, and that the reason for this is a budgetary limitation, but they are not prepared to take action to remove them. This leaves us in something of a pickle: do we pursue this matter with the force that perhaps the NRW deserves, or do we settle and accustomise ourselves to the changes?