The Common Stream

Rowland Parker’s book The Common Stream tells the history of a Cambridgeshire village through the stream that sustains it. The stream is water source, sewer, communication channel, and common element around which the village coheres.

On this walk from Bromley-by-Bow to Cody Dock along the River Lea, we open a conversation about how bodies of water enact their common presence, raising provocations to be discussed as we walk. What is water as a material – what does it mean to drink it, contaminate it, remediate it? What is water as an entity – what is its legal status, what are its rights? How does water treat us, with its rise, its tides, its moods? How does water connect – how does the River Lea speak to the creeks of Manila or Chennai? We will gather our discussions in the Cody Dock Open Air Classroom, refreshments available. Numbers limited.

The walk will be jointly led by Corinna Dean, Lindsay Bremner, Stroma Cole and Paolo Zaide, all from the University of Westminster School of Architecture and Cities.