This weekend saw the opening of the first publicly accessible wetland in Hackney at Woodberry Wetlands, and it was tremendously popular when I went along on Sunday.  Closed to the public since it was built to store water brought along the New River from Hertfordshire it was officially opened by Sir Richard Attenborough on 30th April.  

17 acres of lake, dykes, reedbeds and nature, it's significance lies in the fact that it is still a working reservoir, supplying water to London via filter beds in Walthamstow.  For years water companies have been keeping people out of reservoirs: now the first working reservoir to be opened to the public is a model which can be widely emulated.

And next year we can look forward to the opening of the Walthamstow Wetlands, right on Hackney's eastern border.  This will be a much bigger site with 10 reservoirs accessible from Coppermill Lane across from Hackney's Springfield Park as well as from Forest Road to the North.