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it is Totally Thames festival all month, which is why the little ships were round; they also had the great river race on Saturday, but that's a bit boring to watch; every 10 minutes you get someone coming by in a kayak or longship or bathtub or something, so we didn't bother. So today we went on a reedbed excursion in a barge looking at how they're planting reeds by the side of the Lea Navigation, mostly floating ones on coir mats. It's done by a conservation outfit called Thames 21. The only thing that confuses me is the Lea isn't the Thames. And in fact the Lea Navigation isn't the Lea, it's a canalised bit running alongside it, only straighter, so barges can get along it.
Also, nobody's ever decided whether it's the Lea or the Lee. Funny place, the East End.