1 min read

St Ethelwold of ABINGDON

If you are walking into Abingdon on Saturday 3 August you might think of St Ethelwold who knew the Thames. Saturday is St Ethelwold’s Day. In 955 he re-established Abingdon Abbey. He also restored downstream Chertsey Abbey. He died on 1 August 984 and was buried in Winchester. An arm and a leg were taken […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

St Saviour’s Dock Bridge open

St Saviour’s Dock footbridge is now back in use although refurbishment work continues. “We still have work to do at dock level …. including minor works to the decking,” say contractors Conway in an update statement. “The unique design of the bridge means that all the parts of the mechanism which facilitate the opening, are […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
2 min read

Searching for start and end of the Thames

Sailor Caroline Crampton who has known the tidal River Thames since childhood set out to explore upstream and downstream. Her book is called The Way To The Sea which means that she starts at the source rather than following the water to see where it comes from. She describes setting out by train to Kemble […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

Prince Edward at Downings Roads

The Earl of Wessex, Patron of the London Gardens Society, visited the Floating Barges Garden on Wednesday. The garden barges, just downstream of Tower Bridge and Butler’s Wharf, are converted from a variety of vessels including lighters. Yesterday was a dull day but even at low tide the green growth was a striking contrast to […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

Barnes pub re-opens

“I’m pleased to report on a pub that was turned into a restaurant and has now reverted to being a pub,” writes Tony Hedger in the London Drinker magazine. “The Watermans Arms, an ex-Watney pub next to the Bulls Head in Barnes, closed in the 1980s and became a succession of chain restaurants. It has now […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

Tony Robinson’s TV Thames series

On St George’s Day last year Tony Robinson was breakfasting at the Thames Head pub near the source of the River Thames. This week the first of his four films on the river will be on Channel 5. The opening of the series takes him from Kemble in Gloucestershire to Oxford. In episode two he […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

Temple Bridge

Temple Bridge, between Marlow and Hurley, has reopened. The interesting but slightly long right bank diversion via Bisham Abbey need not now be followed.

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

St Saviour’s Dock Bridge still closed

Additional work on St Saviour’s Dock in central London has been found necessary so there will have to be a longer than expected closure closure of the footbridge. The earliest that the crossing can be reopened is probably mid July. The alternative route is: At the west end of Bermondsey Wall West, bear left to […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
3 min read

William Morris & The River

Victorian designer William Morris was greatly influenced by the River Thames. He had a house by the river at Hammersmith and another near Lechlade on the Gloucestershire-Wiltshire border. In 1880 he spent week sailing upstream from Kelmscott House in London to Kelmscott Manor in rural Oxfordshire. “Here we were in the Thames that is the […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts
1 min read

Weekend path closure near London Bridge

The riverside path on Hay’s Wharf  downstream of London Bridge is closed for maintenance until Monday 8 April. The closure is between Hay’s Galleria and London Bridge Hospital. The diversion is via Hay’s Galleria and right along Tooley Street. Stay on the right side of the road as the main road divides to be able […]

Written by

Leigh Hatts