The Wandle flows through south London, meeting the River Thames at the heart of Europe's largest city. It was once the best trout river in Britain, prized by anglers for the size of its fish. Even the loss of an eye and an arm didn't stop Lord Nelson fishing here two centuries ago, before annihilating Napoleon's fleet at the battle of Trafalgar. Wandle trout were famous. Frederick Halford, the Victorian angler whose writings gave birth to modern fly-fishing, was a Wandle regular in the 1860s and 1870s. The River Wandle is a unique South chalkstream which flows north from Croydon and Carshalton to join the Thames at Wandsworth. In Victorian times, the Wandle was one of the hardest-working rivers in the world, with 90 mills along its 11 mile length  It's steep passage and swift flows were harnessed to power water mills producing everything from silk and snuff to copper and gunpowder. An 11-mile (18-kilometer) section once supported over 90 mills, making it one of the hardest-worked rivers in the world.

As industrial processes developed, so the pollution worsened. By the 20th century the river was all but dead.

This is how Chief Executive of the Wandle Project Alan Suttee remembers it.

"In the late 1960s the Wandle was officially designated an open sewer," he said. "And in the 70s I remember it running red, pink, or blue, depending on what dye they were using in the local tanneries."

The WTT has funded a comprehensive habitat assessment of five key reaches of the river, also including a detailed set of restoration options. This strategic document will allow the project to prepare and submit a detailed set of cost effective funding proposals to potential external partners. This information is crucial in helping the project with its forward planning. The strategy will facilitate the start of long-term plans to rejuvenate the habitat of the Wandle necessary to support sustainable populations of wild trout.