| The river Wandle is one of the last surviving chalkstreams in London, and acts as a channel of water that has experienced multiple pasts and histories. At different points throughout its life, it was considered the ‘the best and clearest stream near London’, the ‘hardest-working-river-of-its-size-in-the-world,’ and also ‘South London’s open sewer.’ Meanwhile, anglers lined the banks of the Wandle, observing the passage of time and shifts in the riparian environment. This paper employs angling, and consequently anglers as a method of observation - a lens in which themes of spatial control, capital-driven agendas, resistance, and subversion can be explored. The history of angling, with its inextricable ties to industry and the working class, has established angling as an unmistakable presence on most of London’s riverbanks. Yet, the voices of the anglers themselves, and their influence on the past, present, and future architectural forms of the river are often left unsaid. |
