The mystery of the Beckenham eel massacre

Dear Londoners — Happy Monday from the dog-days of July. I (Hannah) spent the weekend in Newcastle, where it poured down yesterday — a phenomenon that now feels so alien to us in the south that I almost enjoyed it, despite stepping into a puddle and soaking my shoes. Meanwhile, back in the capital, all customers of Thames Water or Affinity Water are now under a hosepipe ban. Truly, a nation of contrasts. 

I also wanted to say hello and thank you to all of our new paying members who joined this weekend, and to those who shared, commented and emailed about Joshi’s Saturday read on the demise of the Evening Standard. Commenter John called it “an excellent article following the slow demise of a newspaper that most Londoners took for granted as a constant in their lives”; while Mike von joel wrote: “Excellent profile of an idea that sadly passed its sell by date”.

Over on BlueSky, journalist Marie le Conte said she still had the one-pager “I wrote to my editors when I was at the diary in 2015, explaining the various ways in [it] could become a digital product”, while critic Scott Bryan termed it a “great (and rather depressing) read”. 

Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com)

1) this is a great piece 2) I still I still have, somewhere in my inbox, the one-pager I wrote to my editors when I was at the diary in 2015, explaining the various ways in which the Londoner could become a digital product, which got roundly igonored by all involved lol [contains quote post or other embedded content]

Bluesky SocialMarie Le Conte

Scott Bryan (@scottygb.bsky.social)

A great (and rather depressing) read on the decline of the London Evening Standard https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/falling-standards-how-evgeny-lebedev-saved-then-sank-londons-newspaper/

Bluesky SocialScott Bryan

One person who wasn’t enthusiastic, however, was a spokesperson for the paper, who called it “codswallop” made up by “disgruntled ex-colleagues”. You can’t win ‘em all! 

In today’s briefing, we look at what might happen to beleaguered utility company Thames Water under Andy Burnham’s potential nationalisation plans, the mystery of the Beckenham eel massacre and a brilliant, in-the-know Richmond pub.

Who killed hundreds of eels in Beckenham?

On the subject of Thames Water, an ongoing mystery is still bubbling away in Beckenham, after dozens of protected fish were all found dead in a small 3km stretch of the River Pool, a tributary that eventually leads to the Thames. On 28 June 2026, locals were dismayed to find that hundreds of European eels and other fish species were floating dead in the water.

For the last couple weeks, we’ve been trying to find out more about what happened. After all, with even the worst raw sewage releases we’ve all grown used to hitting our rivers, it’s rare for there to be fish casualties on this scale.