The Aldersbrook: A lost London river resurrected

Here's an inspirational video with John Rogers and Paul Powlesland. 

John's blurb on YouTube says:

A London walk with the brilliant Paul Powlesland of the River Roding Trust, discovering how the forgotten river Aldersbrook near Ilford has been rescued and revived by the local community, saving it from becoming another lost river of London. 

An ancient branch of the River Roding, the Aldersbrook was buried beneath undergrowth and silt and clogged with rubbish. 

Volunteers from The Friends of the River Roding worked tirelessly to remove the silt from the riverbed, dispose of hundreds of bags of rubbish and cut back the undergrowth to reveal what is probably the only tidal brook in London and a glimpse into London's past when meandering streams like this formed much of the landscape of London. 

John Rogers has a Patreon account to support his videos and he blogs at The Lost Byway. And you can follow Paul Powesland on Instagram and Bluesky.

Britain's top woman chess player is just 11 years old

Embed from Getty Images

The English Chess Federation is justifiably excited:

British chess phenom Bodhana Sivanandan has made history by shooting to the top of the UK chess rankings after a sensational start to 2026, the English Chess Federation is pleased to report.

 The 11-year-old from North London has rocketed to the number one English female spot. She is rated higher than the top women in all the other UK nations, and she has also broken into the world’s top 100 women for the first time, currently sitting at number 72.

 World chess rankings are compiled by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and updated each month. In the April list, Sivanandan replaced four-time British Women’s Champion Lan Yao, aged 25, as the English federation’s top player. ...

It is an extraordinary rise for a Harrow schoolgirl who took up the game during lockdown after finding a chessboard and set in a bag her father wanted to throw out.

In the summer of 2022, as I blogged at the time, Bodhana was selected to play for England women's team at the chess olympiad. The ECF reckons this made her the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport.

In the British Championship last simmer, then aged 10, she made history by becoming the youngest female player to defeat a male grandmaster. In another event she beat the former women's world champion Mariya Muzychuk – you can see the game on YouTube.

Hazel O'Connor: Will You?

Hazel O'Connor is a goddess and – sorry, Bob Holness – this is the greatest saxophone solo on a British pop single.