The Wiers, River Wall Repairs - Trust Annual Report 1985
Downstream of City Bridge the rapidly flowing Itchen veers sharply to the left then swings in a broad arc to the right until it enters the race of Wharf Mill. The footpath along the west side of the river, one of the delights of the City, raised barely a foot above the water's surface, extends right to the water's edge. A simple wooden railing of oak posts and bars, which over the years has assumed a delightful degree of irregularity, provides a safety barrier which does its job with the minimum of fuss.
Unfortunately the bank structures, mostly of concrete but in some places of brick or stone, have deteriorated and in a number of places have begun to crumble and fall away.
The City Council has resolved to solve the difficult problem this poses by facing the entire length of the river bank from City Bridge to Wharf Mill with hardwood boards driven vertically into the riverbed side by side to form as it were a "fence" to contain the river. Behind this "fence", which will be cut off at the level of the present edge, the crumbling concrete and masonry of the present bank will be removed and replaced with concrete the top of which will be brushed to expose the small stones and pebbles it contains.
While recognising the difficulty and cost of constructing a new river wall of masonry or concrete, the Trust is concerned that the solution proposed will lack the bold simplicity and satisfying solidity of the present structures, - particularly as the exposed ends of the cut-off boards will visually form the vital "edge". Uniformity will be substituted for variety and the continuous green band of plant and animal life the present materials support will vanish.
The beauty of the present river wall is that, although it is completely artificial, it manages to suggest it is part of the natural world. What it is proposed to replace it with will always appear man-made, especially if a stain¬less steel bolt head is left projecting through every board.
If a more conservative approach could be adopted, and only the most badly affected stretches of the bank repaired, the higher costs of a more satisfactory solution might be able to be afforded.