A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers: Quin, Quaggy

After the River Piddle we come to two more quaint names for small English rivers, this time beginning with 'Q'.

The River Quin in Hertfordshire has had the charm of its riverside described, even where the river is little more than a brook as one which  "idles its sluggish life away in lazy liberty, without turning a solitary spindle, or affording even water power enough to grind the corn that grows upon its banks."  (Highways & Byways of Hertfordshire 1910)

River Quin near Braughing

This shot was taken c 300m upstream from where it joins the River Rib. The area is prone to severe flooding and in 1922 a donkey and cart were swept away at Sheep's Lane Ford.

In Braughing itself, a former Roman settlement, another ford crosses the road.

Ford at Braughing

It's hard to imagine floods here!

If you should ever visit the village make sure you try the pork sausages which it is famous for.

The River Quaggy is only 11 miles long and runs through the London Boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. It joins the River Ravensbourne near Lewisham Station.

River Quaggy - London

The river has been extensively re-engineered in Chinbrook Meadows and Sutcliffe Park to create a meandering flood plain. The river may look tame in photos but on occasions it turns nasty - flooding after prolonged rains.

River Quaggy in Manor House Gardens, Lee

The Quaggy name - probably derives from 'quagmire'. Sounds appropriate to me.

Photo attributions:

• River Quinn near Braughing: 25 November 2007 ex geograph.org.uk by Nigel Cox - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
• Ford at Braughing: 4 May 2013, ex geograph.org.uk by Bikeboy - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence
• River Quaggy - London: 24 March 2008 by Paultoff - Free Art Licence - Public Domain
• River Quaggy in Manor House Gardens, Lee: 15 September 2008 ex geograph.org.uk by Dr Neil Clifton - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence

November's Ghostly Happenings

 (Entrance to Hyde Hall by Robert Edwards - Creative Commons Licence)

Hyde Hall at Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire is the venue on November 1^st to see the ghost of Sir John Jocelyn riding a spectral horse down the drive of his former home. Another version says he rides his white horse furiously along an avenue near the church,

Sir John was a Nonconformist in an area dominated by Quakers. The church authorities rejected his request to be buried in the churchyard along with his favourite horse, so he left instructions that he was to be buried in the Hall grounds. In November 1741 he was buried, as per his instructions, without a coffin or shroud in a circle of yews along the main driveway to the Hall. There is no evidence that his horse was slaughtered and buried next to him.

The singer Suzi Quatro who once owned the Hall claimed that a guest room was haunted by a ghost named Richard. Supposedly the spirit of a little girl also walked around parts of the house.

The Hall later became a girls’ school.

 

On 3^rd November the ghost of Lady Costania Coleraine runs through the rooms of Bruce Castle in Tottenham screaming in anguish. 

(Bruce Hall by Julian Osley -Creative Commons Licence}

Henry, the 2^nd Lord Coleraine took over the house after his father’s death renaming it Bruce Castle. He had married Costania in an effort to restore his family’s fortune lost in the Civil War. He had a continuing affair with Sarah Alston (who he married in 1661 after the death of his wife.

Henry was a cruel man and confined his wife to upper rooms in the Castle, later effectively imprisoning her in the small rooms of the clock tower. On 3^rd November 1680 she managed to escape with her infant son and flung herself off the Castle balcony to her death. Supposedly her suicide is replayed on the anniversary.

A reference to the Ghostly Lady of Bruce Castle appeared in the 1858 March Edition of the Tottenham and Edmonton Advertiser.

Bruce Castle, once the home of Sir Rowland Hill, is now a museum. In addition to local history records its exhibits include displays from the early postal service.

 

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore is built on the site of a former convent. On 13^th November the host of a grey lady, thought to be a nun, returns to haunt the wards.