Discovering the Thames Pathway

He is co-founder of Bankside Press. Find out the latest route changes with free guidebook updates. Available online or sent by email. The Thames Path Map Booklet 1: This booklet is included with the Cicerone guidebook to the trail, and shows the full route on OS 1: The easy riverside route takes around two weeks to walk.

www.newyorkethnicfood.com: Discovering the Thames Pathway eBook: Keith Pauling: Kindle Store

Seasons The River Thames is a constantly changing green corridor. While care must be taken during occasional winter flooding this is an all season walk always offering new rewards and views.

Difficulty The route is described in 20 sections between 4 and 16 miles in length. This is a mainly flat walk with only one steep hill. East of Oxford, and especially in London, the paths are good and usually near public transport. The more challenging sections needing a little planning are upstream of Oxford. Receive updates by email Be notified by email when this book receives an update or correction. This guidebook is produced to the usual outstanding Cicerone standards. Kevin McKeown, Amazon A real bargain as the route map booklet is normally sold on its own for almost a tenner!

Leigh Hatts Leigh Hatts has been walking the Thames towpath and exploring the river and Docklands since , when he worked on the feasibility study that resulted in the decision to establish the route as a National Trail. View Articles and Books by Leigh Hatts. The Thames Path 26 Apr Top 10 Easy First Treks 7 Aug Free regular updates Find out the latest route changes with free guidebook updates. International guidebooks We have over books covering many countries, and our collection is growing all time. When the docks were still in operation, the river was screened off from Londoners by high security walls; by comparison, the access pedestrians have to the river today is in many ways better than it ever has been.

But the Thames is not the domain of any private individual or company, and those who have developed the riverside — through a planning process that many Londoners felt was undemocratic and unresponsive to local concerns — were only able to do so, and rake in lucrative profits as a result, by promising to ensure that the riverbanks would be inclusionary spaces that linked the city to its liquid artery and provided everyone with access to the river.

In many places, those promises have simply not been met. Without easily accessible information on the subject, regular citizens stand little chance of pushing back, or holding to account those who would snatch away public space into private hands. We wind up our perambulations at City Hall, on the other side of the river. John Biggs, the London Assembly member, tells me he has been prevented from doing television interviews outside the building by private security guards who insist he needs a special permit; protesters are not allowed to gather without corporate permission.

The Thames is a permanent conduit for political struggle. Judge Jeffreys found that out the hard way; the glass cases of the Museum of London Docklands, which tell the history of the river, are littered with protest paraphernalia stretching right back through the centuries. It may be that if we are to resist the encroachment of private ownership upon public space, a bit of tactical encroachment in the other direction — the public barging their way into the private — will be required.

What form that might take, be it citizen mapping, innovative data-sharing or direct action, remains to be seen. London Walking holidays The Thames features. Order by newest oldest recommendations. Show 25 25 50 All. The non-tidal part passed through various hands. When Thames Water was privatised, its river management functions transferred to the National Rivers Authority, which eventually became part of the Environment Agency.

Although there are designated bodies for managing the two parts of the river, a lot of individuals and collectives play a role in how the Thames is accessed and used. Later on we will discover how this can lead to disputes. Follow the path and a row of narrowboats will appear on the opposite bank. Continue until you can see Harts Boatyard, a pale building with balconies outside. Much of this stretch of the river has shifted use from a working waterway to a place of leisure.

Working with the marine trade and local authorities, the results saw increases in boat registrations and business investment. One example of a thriving riverside business is Harts Boatyard opposite. Established in it is the oldest boatyard in Surrey. The boatyard has recently been refurbished complete with state-of-the-art floating pontoons for the popular canal boat market. They also advertise residential moorings aimed at foreign investors. A boat moored here offers reasonably-priced living accommodation close to central London and Heathrow Airport.

The boatyard has also diversified with a pub and restaurant. These serve the boating community and local residents, who can hire a boat from a selection of electric and motor launches. We have already discovered how the Thames is used for motor cruising, rowing and skiffing. Another popular activity is sailing. Sailing is practiced at many clubs along the length of the Thames using different types of boats, such as Lasers, GP14s and Wayfarers.

On the opposite bank is the Thames Sailing Club. Founded in it is the oldest river sailing club in the UK. The club is also home to a unique type of sailing boat — the Thames A-Rater. They are used for racing on this particular stretch of the non-tidal river. A-Raters have a foot long body, a flat hull and a foot mast. These very tall masts are designed to collect as much wind as possible, including above the level of the riverside trees and buildings.

This cup was originally presented by Queen Victoria herself in In the Treaty of Kingston may have been signed here. The island could have been chosen as it had long been a meeting place for negotiations and debate. From to it was the first home of Kingston Rowing Club. During the s the Inner London Education Centre set up training and water sport facilities on the island.

After Kingston Council bought the site in it became a conference and wedding venue. Twenty years later that company went bankrupt and the island was occupied by squatters. The group said the island was common land for public use. Following a legal battle the council evicted them.

The Thames Path Map Booklet

At the centre is the refurbished Main House with a ballroom, suites and over 30 rooms for all types of business meetings and ceremonies. Continue along the path as it curves to the left. Stop when you reach a bench that faces a church with a square tower on the opposite bank. Stop here for a pause and take in the riverside path. This stretch that we have been following has very few obstacles or diversions. But this was not always the case. Earlier we heard about the Thames Navigation Commission, which was formed to manage the non-tidal river above Staines.

Part of their job was to make navigation easier for cargo boats. This included improving the towpath. The task was difficult thanks to many natural obstacles along the way. Furthermore, many riverside landowners refused permission for the towpath to enter their land. The Thames Commissioners did not have compulsory purchase powers, so the towpath had to switch from one riverbank to the other.

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This created the need for the ferries that we heard about earlier. One of these ferries still operates between Shepperton and Weybridge. We followed the towpath across the river when we crossed Hampton Court Bridge. The Thames Path follows the river for miles, from the source to the Thames Barrier. It is the only one of the 15 National Trails that runs entirely alongside a river. It is also the longest riverside walk in Europe. There are even challenges and charity events to complete its entire length.

The Thames Path has been made accessible to suit all ages and abilities. Countless numbers of people use it on a daily basis. For some the Thames Path is on their daily commute, for others it is a place for walking the dog or a leisurely stroll or cycle. Continue along the Thames Path as it becomes tarmac paved.

Stop at the next riverside bench. Depending on the time of day there may be large white paddle steamers moored by the pier on the opposite bank. If they are not moored there they will be travelling on the river. We have already discovered that leisure use of the Thames for leisure developed during the Victorian period.

The increasing railway network meant that more people could have a day out in riverside towns, such as Reading, Oxford and Windsor. To serve these visitors a range of firms emerged offering River Thames cruises. One such company is Turks. This family-owned company can be traced to when it was established by Richard Turk - although records of Turk-built boats extend back to the twelfth century. Turks began by building passenger wherries and fishing punts. As their reputation spread, they expanded into making boats for English and foreign royalty. They also exported pleasure craft - especially touring canoes and skiffs - all over the world, often winning prizes at international exhibitions.

Pleasure cruises are still available up and down the Thames. In central London, for example, you may have seen fleets of river cruisers between Westminster and Greenwich. Turks paddle cruisers are a regular and colourful sight on the water between Hampton, Kingston and Richmond. Continue along the path. Stop by the riverside decking outside a small boatyard. Look along the river towards the bridge and see if you can spot any swans on the water. The Kingston stretch of the Thames is home to a large number of swans. They can often be seen drifting serenely along the river here. Did you know that all the swans in Britain are shared by three owners?

The first is the monarch, a tradition dating back to the twelfth century when swans were a royal delicacy. This used to be when swans were caught for food. Nowadays it is a kind of census. It happens upstream from here between Sunbury and Oxford. During the ceremony Swan Uppers row the river in skiffs. Then they catch the swans and take them ashore. Swans caught by the Dyers and Vintners are identified by a further ring on the other leg. Today, only swans with cygnets are caught and ringed. This gives a yearly snapshot of how well Thames swans are breeding.

Continue along the riverside using the path or the tarmac road.

If you use the road, take care for occasional traffic. Stop when you are across the river from a modern red and white housing block. Look for a quay to the left of the block spanned by a footbridge. Here we can see one of the many modern apartment blocks springing up beside the Thames.

Ebb and flow

The Charter Quay development was completed in It features five townhouses, apartments, river moorings, restaurants, bars, shops, a piazza, a waterfowl conservation area and the Rose Theatre. Thames-side developments like these have become very desirable. Elsewhere specially-built houses line the river, including ones we passed earlier before Thames Marina.

Though already expensive such houses can have an added cost. Building beside a river increases the risk of flooding and property damage. When floodplains are reduced, excess water cannot drain away. Before we continue, look for a gap in the buildings opposite. You should be able to see another waterway emerging from Kingston town centre. Continue along the tree-lined path. Stop just before it slopes uphill and look towards the bridge.

Records suggest that there has been a bridge at Kingston since the twelfth century. The current bridge opened in though it has been widened several times since. In Saxon times the river here was shallow and marshy and there was probably a ford. The ford would have created an ideal trade and meeting place, especially as the Thames at Kingston was a boundary between two ancient kingdoms - Wessex and Mercia.

It is thought that seven Saxon kings were crowned in Kingston, from Edward the Elder circa to Ethelred the Unready circa In the town centre is the Coronation Stone. Local lore suggests that the Saxon kings were crowned while sitting on it. You can find out more by visiting our Kingston viewpoint. Bear left and follow the path uphill to the end of the bridge. Then turn right and make your way across the right hand side of it. Stop in one of the alcoves on the bridge and look back along the river. Kingston Bridge is a fitting place to finish.

The bridge is another example of the way that people have used and shaped the river.

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Throughout this walk we've seen how people have adapted the natural landscape, from building bridges and water works to living on islands and boats. The bridge is also a good place to look back along the Thames and appreciate many of the features we have explored. Look along the banks and we can see many examples of the leisure activities that now take place by the Thames. The Kingston side is lined with houses, restaurants and bars.

The tree-lined Hampton bank is popular with joggers, anglers and cyclists. On the water itself we may spot many types of vessels, from canoes and cruisers to sailing yachts and motor boats.