132
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
belief being that they were weapons of warfare used in the struggles between
Saxon and Dane a thousand years ago. We have passed a lock and two
bridges, and gazed joyously on the gambolling roach and dace in the trans-
parent stream, when we reach the Balance-engine, which plays an important
part in contributing to the comfort of two-fifths of the population of London.
On the right bank we see the birthplace of the New River (at Chadwell
Springs), or New River Head, and lower down the Amwell Springs, the
channel of which river was dug and fashioned in the reign of James I. to
supply the inhabitants of North London with water. For garden-like banks,
and purity of water, along a course of about 17 miles' crowfly—and over 40
miles in its windings—this New River is unsurpassed. . . . .
" We are now approaching the town of Ware, and rejoining the river.
On the left bank is a mansion, which was formerly a priory established by
Benedictine monks ; there is also the Priory Mill. Across the old river,
where we rejoin it at the end of the cut, the owner of the grounds keeps a bar
of wood across the stream as an assertion of private rights against intrusion ;
but the Conservators, on the occasion of their annual survey, remove this
bar, and proceed up the stream as an act of asserted sovereignty, which fact
is annually recorded as evidence to be used in case of future litigation.
" And now we come to Ware itself—the old-fashioned town of maltkilns,
and all that pertains to the baking of grain and the manufacture of the staple
drink of Old England. Along the left bank we have a number of demesnes,
each of which has a summer-house overhanging the river. The town occupies
both banks, and has a cosy-looking bridge, which constitutes part of the
High Street, leading towards Cambridge. Formerly this was the premier
town for malting ; it is now put in the background by Wakefield and Burton.
Prior to the abolition of the malt tax, there were 150 excisemen constantly-
engaged in the town; but that was when the malt had to be taxed before
being brewed, which secured that beer should be made of malt. Now that
the tax is imposed on the hogsheads of beer produced, the constituents of the
beer are—well, let us draw the veil, and view the town in other respects ! The
former name of the town was Guare, meaning a weare or dam, which was
constructed on the river, and strongly fortified by the Danes in 894, as a
means of protecting their vessels. The wily Alfred is said to have drained the
bed of the Lea near this place, thereby stranding the vessels and enabling him
to destroy the fort. The fish are sporting freely at this place, unconcerned
about Roman roads, Danes and Saxons, malting, or history ; nor are they
much startled at the approach of even the Conservancy barge.
" We pass the wharf and crane below Ware Bridge, and come to the
Tumbling Bay, where fish are abundant, and whence (or thereabouts) com-
mences a stretch of about two miles (more or less) of fishery, rented by the
Amwell Magna Angling Association (who have a handsome clubhouse on the
river bank), a veritable dreamland for anglers, the smiling woods on the
adjacent heights giving a tone to the scene which gladdens the heart of every
man who casts a line.3 Hard by, the River Ash, close to the road which runs
to Buntingford, empties its tolerably clear waters into the River Lea. Here
we come upon the pretty village of Amwell, which derives its name from
Emma's Well. Amwell Springs yield an extra supply to the New River, as
before stated.
3 Some notable anglers' feats by members of this Association arc given in the "Notes"
column of the present part of the Essex Naturalist.