• The River Lea

  • Humans and nature

    "In this actual world there is then not much point in counter-posing or restating the great abstractions of Man and Nature. We have mixed our labour with the earth, our forces with its forces too deeply to be able to draw back and separate either out." - Raymond Williams (1980)

  • Favourate Quote:

    We end, I think, at what might be called the standard paradox of the twentieth century: our tools are better than we are, and grow better faster than we do. They suffice to crack the atom, to command the tides. But they do not suffice for the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it." - Aldo Leopold (1938)

  • Lea Valley and River Photos

    Winter LeftoversAalscholver / Cormorant / CormoranPancake RockselguSpringtime MontreuxCatching Light.Sunrise, Rocky Mountain National Parkviewing the worldStalwartPortee
    More Photos

About

In January 2011 I defended my PhD dissertation, A Wetland Suburb on the Edge of London: a Social and Environmental History of West Ham and the River Lea, 1855-1914, at the History Department at York University in Toronto.  Along with my research, I’ve also developed an interest in public history and the role of historians in providing context and working towards solutions for the many problems facing today’s cities, societies, economies and environments.  To this end I’m a founding member of  ActiveHistory.ca.

Find my Academic CV here.

One Response

  1. ralph ward, on April 7, 2010 at 10:24 am said:

    I have just stumbled across your website. I work for the UK Government as planning/ regeneration advisor for Olympic legacy, and (nevertheless) have a long standing interest in the history of the River Lea, Abercrombies ambitions, and in how we might raise the quality of he riverand its value to the surrounding area – not only as a ecological retreat and ‘leisure area’ but as an educational piece of urban history and management. I would be interested to read your papers and hear any of your emerging conclusions

    Reply

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