London Trout: "You Haven't Killed Us Yet"

Despite a deadly chemical spill that virtually flushed the Wandle clean in September (see “British Firm Pays Big for Wandle Restoration“), fishing guide Mark Anderson found a pair of breeding trout doing their duty next to an upturned bicycle and assorted other debris. “Most of the time Wandle water is clean, even if it is 99 per cent treated sewage. But when clouds darken over Croydon a toxic plug of road run-off and the overflow of sewage systems works its way downriver – something tolerant species like chub and carp can just about endure. But the clean-living trout? No-one knew.” Charles Rangeley-Wilson in the London Telegraph.