Good to hear that the intervention of the Open Spaces Society has persuaded South Oxfordshire District Council to withdraw an order to divert the Thames Path at Wallingford. The row involves a swing bridge being installed on the line of the path at the marina to the south of the town which has been taken […]
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Sunday was a wonderful sunny day in London which made the annual blessing the river such a enjoyable occasion. By tradition the clergy and congregations of Southwark Cathedral and the City’s St Magnus the Martyr met in the middle of London Bridge with the Bishop of Woolwich presiding. It is always a surprise, although it […]
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There is good news from the Environment Agency which has announced that it will not be selling Thames’ lock cottages. The quango claims to have “listened carefully” to objections and to recognise that “flood risk” requires lock keepers to be resident along the river. It now has made a commitment to ensure that there is […]
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Kew Gardens is 250 years old next year and it may be worth celebrating on the very first day of 2009. Princess Augusta started the botanic garden in 1759. Most walkers on the Thames Path do not now break off to visit the gardens, however tempting, as the admission price is a staggering £13. Many […]
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News of the very severe fire at Garrick’s Villa in Hampton is a shock. Famous actor Richard Garrick bought the house in 1754 and twenty years later employed Robert Adam to make major alterations. The fire could be seen from the towpath on the opposite bank at midday today. The grounds are divided by the […]
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The Good Pub Guide 2009 published this week highlights as always some Thames pubs. The Baskerville Arms at Shiplake is in the Oxford chapter along with, much further upstream, The Trout at Godstow. This has become expensive and rather too upmarket inrecent years although it is very good to see that bar food is available […]
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A London to sea Thames Estuary Path is now government policy. The Thames Gateway Parklands Vision was launched this week by architect Sir Terry Farrell, the Government’s Parklands design champion, at the Thames Gateway Green Forum. Speaking alongside Sir Terry at the Royal Horticulural Hall, Housing Minister Iain Wright said that urban parks, marshlands, waterways […]
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Demolition has begun on Chambers Wharf ready for a new development which will restore the riverside path along Bermondsey Wall. Chambers Wharf lies between Rotherhithe and St Saviour’s Dock near Tower Bridge. At present walkers have to divert along Chambers Street at the back . On Wednesday Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat MP for Southwark North […]
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“The presence of lock-keepers’ homes along the River Thames has made a huge contribution to improving safety and reducing crime, vandalism and antisocial behaviour along the riverside” says Reading West MP Martin Salter. Writing in Thames Guardian, the journal of the River Thames Society, the MP backs the lock-keepers’ campaign to able to contue living […]
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A new bridge has been built over the River Thames to take thousands of visitors to the Reading Festival. The temporary structure, made out of the stage used for Madonna’s tour, has just been completed upstream of Caversham Bridge. In recent years young campers on the Mapledurham side have had to queue for a ferry […]
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