Updates

In mid July 1620 The Mayflower set sail from Rotherhithe and, after putting in at Southampton and Plymouth, arrived off America’s Cape Cod in November. The landing of the Pilgrim Fathers and their first harvest in 1621 is recalled in the USA every year at Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. The great commemorations […]

These are uncertain times but the few walking between Windsor and Maidenhead this week will find quite a long signed diversion at the motorway bridge near Bray. The towpath here will also be closed next weekend between 8pm on Friday 5 June and 6am on Monday 8 June. The closure is to allow for major […]

The Thames Path is being extended downstream to the Isle of Grain in Kent. This is the effect of a decision announced today by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice. The minister has approved the remaining sections of the England Coast Path on the Thames south bank between Grain […]

Transport for London is proposing a free ferry linking Rotherhithe with Canary Wharf. The new service would be a turn up and go eco fast ferry with new specially designed boats and piers. The proposal follows TfL’s decision in July last year to no longer pursue a bridge idea between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf due […]

Today Thursday 20 February the new Twenty Pound bank note is available at banks and post offices. The note features the artist JMW Turner with his most famous painting The Fighting Temeraire in the background. He was capturing the moment the great ship, made famous by its role in the Battle of Trafalgar, was towed […]

“There’s no story behind this,” writes London Drinker editor Tony Hedger about this month’s cover photo. “The Dog & Bell is simply a very good pub. It is a privately owned free house usually with six beers on handpump. You will find it not far from the Thames at 116 Prince Street (off Watergate Street) […]

Five of JMW Turner’s Thames paintings are being shown at his house for the first time. The artist, obsessed with the River Thames and wanting to be nearby, designed and built his own house just over the bridge from Richmond. He moved in with his father in 1813. Sandycombe Lodge is under half a mile […]

Next Sunday 12 January will see the annual blessing of the River Thames on London Bridge. This is London’s oldest river crossing point and this year has an added resonance since it is where the recent terrorist attack took place. On Sunday 12 January, Baptism of Christ Sunday, processions will set out from St Magnus […]

This year 2020 is the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower crossing to America with the Pilgrim Fathers. The ship sailed down the Thames from Rotherhithe in July 1620 and crossed the Atlantic. The crew sighted Cape Cod on 9 November., America’s annual Thanksgiving in November was begun by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1621 after the […]

The award-winning Dog & Bell pub on the Thames Path at Deptford is looking very welcoming this Christmas. It’s looking extra special this year due to the pedestrianisation of Prince Street which carries the Thames Path round the back of Convoys Wharf. So the tree and lovely beer barrels are outside. Sometimes there is even […]