sociable cycle ride along the Quaggy Sat Feb 22nd starts 10am

[Sally Eva]

I think it must be because Quaggy rhymes with Boggy that it seems such an appropriate name for a river. Wikipaedia agrees and suggests that the name is short for quagmire. Such firm action has been taken to control the Quaggy that for much of its route through Lewisham it's out of sight. This must be river-abuse.

This circular, easy-paced, two-hour ride starts at 10am in Peckham Square between Peckham Library and the Peckham Pulse Leisure Centre SE15 5JR. The route is mostly quiet roads with a few path sections through parks. There will be some gentle hills but nothing frightening. Rivers prefer the flat. There's no need to book or pay. Just turn up with your bike (you do need a bike). Bring your under-16s. All welcome and all free.

The River Quaggy is 17 kilometres (11 mi) long, passing through the south-east London boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. In its lower reaches it is an urban river, in its upper reaches further from London it is more natural and known as the Kyd Brook. The river rises from two sources near Farnborough Hospital at Locksbottom and flows into the Ravensbourne close to Lewisham station where much new development is taking place.

This meeting of rivers has been made a feature of Confluence Park near the station. The ride will follow the Quaggy south where its course is mostly hidden behind buildings in a sad concrete culvert. At Manor Park the river emerges from hiding and at the south end it has almost natural banks. Then back into a channel behind railing in Manor House Gardens where the Quaggy is kept in a channel, behind railings. Lots of information about the Quaggy on the web site of QWAG: Quaggy Waterways Action Group, https://qwag.org.uk/river-quaggy/.

The route is at

The outward leg goes via Brookmill Park, returning past Lewisham Leisure Centre, Brockley Station and Nunhead. At 16.5km, the ride will be just over 10 miles.

This ride is part of the regular Saturday morning Healthy Rides organised by Bruce Lynn and friends for Southwark Cyclists https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk. We are part of the London Cycling Campaign https://lcc.org.uk which trains our ride leaders and insures our rides.Everything we do is free and as welcoming as we can make it. More info is at https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/healthy-rides/. You can email us at [email protected], tweet @southwarkcycle or text Bruce on 07729 279 945