Water guy: Why London should raise a glass to Farnham's Roger Remington

Ask the average Londoner who Roger Remington was, and the vast majority would probably shrug their shoulders.

But the sharpshooter from Farnham is one of the city’s real unsung heroes – as his foresight and genius has provided millions with clean water.

Farnham’s wall of Notable Names has a new addition one of the industry’s most respected figures was honoured in his hometown last week.

Roger Remington was “Farnhamian” in every sense of the word: He was born and lived in the town all his life, being educated at the Grammar School and being an “excellent shot” in the Rifle Club.

But away from his family life on Upper Old Park Lane, he was civil engineer with a worldwide reputation, and the man responsible for one of the greatest infrastructure projects in the capital’s history.

That scheme was the London Water Ring Main (LWRM), a 50-mile ring of tunnels deep under the city’s streets linked to its great reservoirs near Staines and Enfield.

Roger was the Project Director, leading its development from design and construction to the moment the water began to flow in the mid-1990s.

Mr Remington’s journey underground started when he earned a degree in Civil Engineering as a night-school student at Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1973.

He went on to pass the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Law and Arbitration exam, and later completed Harvard’s Advanced Management Programme at Templeton College in Oxford.

Roger, who worked for Thames Water for most of his career, would leave a significant legacy in the form of the Ring Main project which he led.

“This was one of the first great infrastructure projects of modern London,” said mayor of Farnham, Cllr Graham White, to guests and members of Remington’s family during a presentation in the town hall.

“It’s a 50-mile ring of tunnels, running as deep as 80 metres below the city. This is deeper than the London Underground and built to carry water from the reservoirs and treatment works on the city’s outskirts to wherever the city needed it.

“Roger led that project from design through construction to the moment the water began to flow.

“He built and led an entire in-house team of engineers and professionals, and taking the kind of decisions that only a confident and capable leader is willing to take.”

His legacy also extends to contracts, as he introduced a target-price approach with fast, three-week bidding and award periods. At a time when the industry was bogged down in internal struggles and discourse, the scheme was delivered for just £248million, two years ahead of schedule and under budget. And yet look at HS2…

The Ring Main took just seven years to complete and was opened by Her Late Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II in November 1994. Today it supplies more than 3.5million customers, carrying 1.3billion litres of water daily by gravity alone, while laying the groundwork for a host of major water projects around the capital.

“Before Ring Main there were all these wonderful big pipes going through the streets of London,” said Andy Flowerday, Chief Executive at Barhale, Thames Water’s lead contractor.

“They were built by Victorians and we’re still using them now but some of them are 130 years old.

“The Ring Main tried to join up the whole thing. It’s an interconnecting system which is all done on gravity so there are no pumps.

“We hear about Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the London sewer system but we have this magnificent scheme and take it for granted.”

The British Tunneling Society recognised Roger’s contribution in 1993 by awarding him the James Clark Medal, bestowed each year to a leading UK engineer for a major contribution to the industry.

Roger reflected on what made the project possible when Thames Water held a celebration in 2019 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Ring Main’s competition.

He put the scheme’s success down to the “commitment of the people involved” at a time when “so many others in our industry said it couldn’t be done.”

While Roger’s career will always be synonymous with London, his reputation and expertise took him around the world, managing major water projects in places afar as Puerto Rico, Egypt and Turkey.

“He loved it when he went to Egypt,” said Roger’s wife, Bernice, during an emotional afternoon.

“When he was trundling off with his luggage he said ‘I might end up in jail’ and he meant it. When dealing with people in Egypt he was very straight.”

Roger also had a hand in setting up a project financial management system called PROFISY which he developed at Thames Water with the help of colleague Jeff Farrow.

And the “warm and generous” Roger was also closely involved with Water Aid, the international charity that works to bring clean water and sanitation to countries around the world.

Roger also brings a first to the wall of Notable Names – as he and Bernice lived next door to Madge Green for 30 years. The latter was a journalist, a prized gardener and flower arranger and the driving force behind the Farnham In Bloom volunteer push for many years.

“Farnham was not somewhere Roger merely lived,” said Cllr White, adding; “It was somewhere he belonged, and to which he remained devoted his entire life, alongside his wife, Bernice.”

Roger – who loved the term ‘Farnhamians’ according to his son, Miles – attended his final Old Farnhamians’ Association lunch not long before he died on April 23, 2023. In addition to his engineering nous, he will be fondly remembered for his humour and leadership.

“He was a bit of a workaholic,” said Bernice, before thanking Farnham Town Council for organising the event.

“When we first started thinking about the wall I thought it would be a very small affair so this it’s just amazing to have this tribute to Roger.

“He didn’t suffer fools gladly but he was a dedicated man.

“He was unwavering and did what he thought he thought was right. We were very proud of him as a family.

“His niece took up civil engineering. She is now working for Yorkshire Water so she is following in her uncle’s footsteps.”

“I don’t think the concept of being a workaholic followed him home,” said his son, Miles, adding: “You could never get him to do anything in the house.

“He always used to talk about Farnhamians in rifle shoots.

“It’s just so wonderful to see everyone here full of love.”

Bernice was also presented with commemorative “Tunnelling Tales: Fifty Years of the British Tunnelling Society” book which includes a section about Roger. And a model was also brought along to the presentation in a further visual reminder of the scale of Remington’s world-class project.

“The wall of Notable Names exists because we believe that Farnham’s history is not only written in its buildings and streets, but in the lives of the people who called it home,” said Cllr White.

“It is with great pride we add Roger Remington’s name to our Wall of Notable Names today: A leader who built one of London’s greatest pieces of hidden infrastructure.”

Underground or overground, Roger’s legacy will never be hidden. Millions of Londoners should raise a glass to him.