Category: Updates

One of the features of the River Thames are the church towers which downstream are aids to shipping and upstream landmarks on the Thames Path. St Sampson’s in Cricklade can be seen far away.

The Thames Path passes the Southwark Cathedral gateway and Easter Day’s  Choral Eucharist  is being broadcast from there live on BBC1 at 10am.

The Sunday morning service is always crowded. A third of the congregation is local and rest made up of regulars from across the city and visitors.

The celebrant this Sunday is the Bishop of Southwark Tom Butler whose voice is familiar on radio and the preacher is the Dean Colin Slee who always holds one’s attention.

The broadcast should allow viewers to enjoy the service but I hope the pictures will give a chance to appreciate the architecture.

The refectory in the north courtyard is also a good stop for walkers.

See page  31

Henley-on-Thames’ many unique assets include the offices of the Open Spaces Society in Bell Street. Its general secretary Kate Ashbrook has always defended the rights of way along both sides of the nearby Thames.

But Kate of course has a wider brief keeping watch on paths and commons which may be suddenly fenced off in other parts of the country.

Today she has been in post for 25 years and is now talking about her second 25 years.

Many congratulations on doing such a vital job so well at the OSS and with the Ramblers’ Associaton.

This week Kate said: “Our most important work has been our constant help and encouragement to people fighting to save their commons, greens and paths which are under threat.  It has been a joy to give this assistance and to make a real difference to communities.  It has been a joy too to work with the society’s small but committed, hardworking and loyal staff to achieve these victories.

“The society has always had to run on a shoestring, dependent upon the generosity of its members and on legacies.  Times are tight for everyone, but with us a little goes a long way.  And so I start my next quarter century by calling on people to support our vital work.”

There is some confusion I learn over the date of the 800th anniversary fair on London Bridge.

It is NOT this weekend 28 March. The date was changed when it was realised that it would clash with the G20 demonstations in the City.

The new date is Saturday 11 July. It will be a rare chance to stand on a traffic free bridge and see sheep being driven across.

More details nearer the time.

Oxfam’s Fabric 4 Life campaign, which is encouraging walkers to bring their old outdoor gear for refurbishment and resale, is being promoted by Fiona Lincoln and Mark Stephenson who are walking naked to the Outdoors Show at Birmingham.

You might see them  on the Thames Path between Tower Bridge in London and Oxford where they turn north.

They will miss Claire and Phil who are currently walking in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

They are happy to have ‘guests’ join them on the stages and for other walkers to stop and say hello.

The clothed pair can be followed on their website (http://happythames.wordpress.com) as they fill the gaps. This month they have completed Oxford to Radley.

The difficult sections between Farmoor and Cricklade come next and are probably best tackled as the days get longer and warmer.

I look forward to their comments on the Oxfordshire public transport.

How do you spot them? Look out for the yellow Mr Happy peeping out of  a ruckdack.

This afternoon I had a look at the diversion at Rotherhithe which will last until at least June.

So far Southwark Council has not put up any diversion signs.

It’s complicated because there are currently two closures caused by building work at Rotherhithe’s King’s Stairs. The first, which prevents an early return to the river at the end of the narrowed Rotherhithe Street, will be reopened by the end of this month. It is the blockage to the west at the end of the riverside arcade that is the big problem.

The best temporary route is to keep to Rotherhithe Street as far as King’s Stairs. Turn left (inland) along Elephant Lane. At a junction do not go ahead into Mayflower Street but turn right into a park. Follow the path to a second junction just before St Peter & The Guardian Angels Church. Bear right on a curving path which leads back to the river. Soon you pass The Angel pub.

This problem which has caused numerous walkers to try a dead end behind houses is now annoying residents. The situation is a good example of how closures in London are left to the local council. The national trails office does not have any responsibility for the Thames Path in the capital.

There is more chance of getting information about a sudden closure on a remote Oxfordshire towpath than in central London.

See pages page 25.

The very last stretch of towpath between Lechlade and the Round House near Inglesham has been closed for urgent repair work.

The problem is confined to where the path leaves Wiltshire for Gloucestershire but the only alternative is through the town.

The diversion is across Halfpenny Bridge and ahead up Thames Street to the High Street. Turn left to pass a handy teashop and where the houses end go left down a signposted track which runs south past Willow Tree Farm. At the end is the confluence with the River Colne and the last bridge over the navigable Thames.

The towpath is expected to reopen by Saturday 4 April just before the Easter holidays.

See pages 195 & 196.

Fawley Court just north of Henley has been sold by the Polish Marian order.

The purchaser is Urs Schwarzenbach who owns Thames-Side Court on the edge of Shiplake to the south of Henley. Thames-Side Court is well-known for its narrow gauge railway which can be seen from the Thames Path.

The Fawley Court mansion comes into view across the water from the towpath at Remenham on the last leg into Henley on the Regatta course. The building dates from the 1680s and since 1953 has been in the hands of Polish Marians of the Immaculate Conception who used to run a school there.

For a time it was known as Poland-on-Thames due to the Pentecost festivals held in the grounds and attended by hundreds of Poles.

The house is  contender for the original Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows along with upstream Hardwick House.

No word yet about the future of Fawley Court. Will Mr Schwarzenbach move there from Shipklake or turn the mansion into a hotel?

See pages 14 , 120 and 131.

The World Pooh Sticks Championships will be held on Sunday 29 March at Day’s Lock close to Dorchester-on-Thames.

The annual event used to be held in January but in 1997 the Thames froze over.

The custom was started in 1984 by lock keeper Lynn David. He often saw walkers dropping twigs into the water and thought of Winnie the Pooh who did the same although in Sussex.

Lynn soon decided that an event would be both enjoyable and a way of raising funds for the RNLI.

The Rotary Club of Sinodun is now in charge and this year’s championships start at 11am with the last entry at 1.30pm.

Family races are at noon.

See page 152 to 154.

After watching the Shrove Tuesday pancake race on the Thames Path in front of Southwark Cathedral I went to the opening of Roni Horn aka Roni Horn at Tate Modern.

My interest was in her Thames photographs called Still Water (The River Thames, for example) 1999.

The 15 photographs are very similar. They are taken from above the water and show only dark swirling water. Sometimes there is a hint of oil.

They could be anywhere but under each print are lots of footnotes addressed to the visitor.

Twice she says “The Thames is us”.  She also compares it with the Hudson.

Other comments:

“I sometimes suspect the Thames of being water.”

“The Thames is a drain.”

“It’s curious how the Thames attracts people from far away.”

Today at lunchtime the river was high and dark when I looked out from this exhibition’s windows.

Interesting but maybe not worth the £7.80 entrance charge. You can enjoy the same view free from elsewhere in the bulding anyway.

Visiting the Van Dyck exhibition this morning I was surprised to find it very crowded. I forgot that it is half term week but this is a very good once in a lifetime exhibition.

The show is at riverside Tate Britain which is appropriate for many of the characters depicted lived along the Thames in London. Indeed Van Dyck’s studio was opposite Tate Modern.

The one disappointment of the exhibition is the rather poor Thames map which is vague about the exact location of the studio at Blackfriars. This is important for many went to the studio for their sittings. They were required to sit still for an hour at a time and afterwards colour approved by the master would be filled in by assistants whilst the next subject settled in the chair as if visiting the hairdressers.

Even Charles I, who paid for the house and its new landing stage, called several times. My understanding is that the building was just inside the mouth of the River Fleet which means that the Royal Bank of Scotland in New Bridge Street is the approximate site.

The King came on the Royal barge. Lord Arundel could have come on foot, crossing the Fleet by the bridge at the end of Fleet Street, for he lived just above today’s Temple Station.

The Earl of Northumberland and his sister Lucy both knew Syon House as home but probably came from the family’s London residence Northumberland House at Charing Cross where the garden ran down to moorings on the Thames.

Included in the show is the picture of Archbishop William Laud which fell off the wall in Lambeth Palace in 1640 and gave the Archbishop a fright. Queen Mary of Modena used the ferry outside to cross the Thames to exile in 1688. We see what she looked like thanks to a portrait by Peter Lely in the manner of Van Dyck.

The really famous pictures of Charles I are here having been borrowed from the Queen. In one group of Charles I and his family look as if they are posing for a quick snap in Hello! magazine. But it is a painting undertaken of course at Blackfriars rather than riverside Whitehall Palace although in the background is Westminster Hall rising above the water.

Van Dyck And Britain exhibition is at Tate Britain until Sunday 17 May; admission £12.20.