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A historical photograph of the River Leen from 1947 showing the flooded railway tracks and road.
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Exhibition

The Leen

Nottingham's River

Thu 9 Oct 2025 – Sun 15 Mar 2026

Weston Gallery

Past exhibition

This exhibition has now ended.

Past exhibition

This exhibition has now ended.

From its source in the Robin Hood Hills above Newstead Abbey to the River Trent at the Meadows, the River Leen connects places and communities. This exhibition puts the Leen at the centre of the story of modern Nottingham.

Drawing on the archives of the Trent River Authority and its predecessor bodies, the materials on display show the challenges created by the growth of places like Bulwell and Basford and the expansion of industry. These included pollution from chemicals and sewage, and changing flood risk from urban expansion.

New management challenges shaped the redrawing of Nottingham’s political and economic boundaries, and in the 1960s a substantial engineering ‘Improvement Scheme’ diverted the river and fixed the channel behind steel pilings and flood walls. The exhibition evaluates the legacies of historic interventions along the Leen for those who manage and live beside it today.

This exhibition has been jointly curated by Dr David Beckingham and Dr Rachel Dishington (School of Geography) and Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham, with additional input from the Environment Agency’s Trentside Office, Nottingham.

Image: Flooded Basford crossings, Nottingham, 1947. University of Nottingham RE/DOP/H2/43. Detail.

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