IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Beam Avenue, DAGENHAM, RM10 9BP

This picture shows the construction of the Washlands Flood Storage area renewal project. This is an area designed to hold flood water from the River Beam protecting near by houses from flooding. The £2m project is designed to restore the dikes, which have sunk over the years due to underlying soft peat subsiding. New dikes are being constructed from more solid material from below the peat layer.

In 2005 the dikes that prevent flooding from the Beam River and Wantz Stream were reinforced in the Image, the Beam River drains an area of approximately 66sq km so there is the need to control lot of water. Today the whole area is being reshaped to improve flood defences, public amenity and wildlife value of the Image

In past times flood defences would have been technological solutions in reinforced concrete. Today this European Union sponsored project in the Image shows a lighter more environmentally friendly touch.

The name is on the plate to the right.

So says the Environment Agency sign on the fence. Combined with an earth wall across the rest of the valley, it appears to be a recent measure to prevent extreme high tides in the Thames progressing up the Beam valley.

Just before the junction with the Beam River.

Beam Parklands is a public open space that is actually a flood storage area for the Beam River. The pond is a man-made one. On the horizon is Thaxted House on Siviter Road, seen from closer up in Robert Lamb's Image]

The Beam River is seen here looking upriver from New Road. The structure in the distance is for flood control. This is the southern entrance to Beam Valley Country Park. See http://www.thameschase.org.uk/visitor-centres/dagenham-and-romford/beam-valley-country-park and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_Valley_Country_Park for more information on the park. Above the confluence with the Ravensbourne, near Harrow Lodge Park, the Beam River is known as the River Rom. The Beam flows into the Thames at Dagenham - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Rom for more information on the Beam River.

Wantz Stream is a tributary of the Beam River and is seen here, looking upstream, in the Beam Parklands. Wantz, incidentally, is derived from the Middle English word wente meaning a way. Where four ways or paths met, or in other words a crossroads, the location was known as "four wantz", so the stream probably rises at a historic crossroads upstream in the Romford area.

The Beam River is seen here looking upriver. The structure in the distance is for flood control. This is the southern entrance to Beam Valley Country Park. See http://www.thameschase.org.uk/visitor-centres/dagenham-and-romford/beam-valley-country-park and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_Valley_Country_Park for more information on the park. Above the confluence with the Ravensbourne, near Harrow Lodge Park, the Beam River is known as the River Rom. The Beam flows into the Thames at Dagenham - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Rom for more information on the Beam River.