Introduction - The Thames - a Secret Waterway!

Sir Walter Raleigh at the court of Queen Elizabeth I -

There are two things scarce matched in the Universe - the sun in heaven and the Thames on earth!

For any matter connected with this site Email the webmaster.

How to use this site

The top line beneath the title links to all the sections of the whole river - click to move to any section

The line below links to the sections nearest the current page
Clicking on one of the detail links finds that page

EXAMPLE; for Reading Bridge - click CAVERSHAM, then Reading Br

OR: you can just step through all 250 odd pages in sequence - Scrolling to the bottom of a page automatically finds the next upstream.

[SPACE] may scroll down one SCREEN; F11 toggles that FULL SCREEN experience - on and off

Virtual Earth Map [drag, double click and zoom. Drag the map anywhere (in UK) and then click links to: GOOGLE MAP; STREETMAP; AA Maps; MULTIMAP; and OLD OS MAPS. (Which will all synchronise to the Virtual Earth Map)

The Thames is a secret waterway through the heart of England, accessible only to those with a boat, or willing to hire a boat, or to some extent those willing to walk the Thames paths. It is very slow, generally understated, a gentle, plain, beauty with few dramatic points. There are no rapids or waterfalls, and the beauty which takes your breath away is generally of trees on the hills at which the river nudges in an undemanding sort of way.
Above Cricklade the Thames flows through flat water meadows from the source at Thames Head, though the Churn is rather more exciting with lovely scenery up to Seven Springs.
From Cricklade to Oxford the countryside is essentially flat and gentle and there are so few people to be seen that any human contact becomes quite welcome. From there on down the scenery slowly becomes more dramatic reaching its height below the Goring Gap. Other beauties include Hennerton backwater and the Cliveden Reach. Slipways or other launching sites have been identified enabling the whole navigable river to be used for day trips by trailered or car topped boats. All but the Lechlade - Cricklade section, the River Cherwell, the Bullstake Stream and Hennerton Backwater, would be suited to small powered boats, but the site was written from a punter's point of view.

TIP: Press F11 for the full screen experience! (and F11 again to return to normal)

1923: "Father Thames", by Walter Higgins, has these delightful Thames sketch maps. But Walter Higgins couldn't make them interactive - and I have! Click for a description of any place for which a tooltip appears -

1923: Maps from "Father Thames" by Walter Higgins

This Site is full of Poetry

Next poem.
The poems can be followed by clicking above.
1844: The title is quoted from the poem by Joseph Tubbs, on the Poem Tree, Wittenham Clumps.
If your browser is suitable many of the more significant poems can be heard. [Two clicks on the play triangle! But only if you have broadband. The control should appear here: ]

And yonder there where Thames smooth waters glide
In later days appeared monastic pride

This site is full of quotations

1912: Hilaire Belloc said -

I cannot get away from it that the Thames may be alive!

1932: ENGLAND by Ronald Carton -

We English cannot boast about the greatness of our rivers that is, about their greatness measured coldly in miles either of length or width. Nor do we. We do not seek to match our Thames with Amazon, our Mersey with Mississippi, our Severn with Zambesi. These could swallow our rivers, hardly accounting them rivers, almost our country even and scarcely know the difference. We have no imposing deltas, no thunderous cataracts, no perilous rapids. But if they are no giants, our rivers have personality and character. They are very much a part of our lives, almost of ourselves.
The Thames Valley means green and rolling country, low hills closely wooded, broad pastures where the cropping sheep tinkle an idle bell, cool lawns that slope greenly to the unhurrying stream. And the river itself means the confluence of many brooks near Coates, on the edge of Gloucestershire, below Cirencester.
It means Isis above Dorchester where the Thame flows into it and Thame and Isis are one name and one river thereafter.
It means the dividing line between Berkshire and Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and Surrey, and then at last Essex and Kent.
It means Oxford and Reading and Windsor, Pangbourne and Henley, Putney and Mortlake, London. How much of England is in those names? What would be left if all that is and has been on those two hundred miles of river-banks were swept away out of our lives, out of the past?

This site is full of historic pictures

I acknowledge gratefully permission to print many copyright pictures and poems and other items. I have no commercial interest in any of them.
This site is for personal study and education, to enhance the enjoyment and knowledge of the River Thames, and may not be used for any other purpose.

Doug Myers has painted all the bridges of the Thames. His pictures are copyrighted by him. Doug has been very co-operative in helping me use his pictures.
The Frith photographs are historically important and copyright - my grateful thanks for permission to show them.
The MOTCO Pictures from various 18th and 19th century works are reproduced by permission.
The aerial photos by LAST REFUGE are great. Wouldn't you like to fly round the country taking photos like that?
The captive balloon photos by Skyscan are fantastic! They can sell you a copy of "The Secret Thames".
Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive have kindly allowed me to reproduce their photographs.
Other permissions gratefully acknowledged from:
Panteek Antique Prints
My own pictures are 2004, John Eade.
Other quotations and pictures are from books no longer covered by copyright but if I have inadvertently been mistaken in any particular please forgive me and let me know!

1949: Paul Gedge in Thames Journey wrote -

The first time you go by boat from London to Lechlade it is an Odyssey.
The second time it is an adventure.
The third time, and thereafter it is Green Content.

I am now well into Green Content!

A Time Machine!

I have invented a time machine. It looks like a punt, it floats like a punt, but on the River Thames it carries me back, sometimes a thousand years. For the Thames is liquid history. Mysterious river, always changing.
Down the entire length of the Thames, almost without exception, every weir and bridge and church has origins traceable to the middle ages and before. In finding out about them I have collected dozens of books about the river and immersed myself in them.
And this now is my summary of what I have found related to the river as I have punted it, twice down the entire puntable length.
I have covered the freshwater Thames from Teddington to Thames Head and Seven Springs, and also the Oxford section of the river Cherwell and the Bullstake Stream.
For completeness I have also added a Tideway section though I have no personal experience of it.
It is, in places, also a personal view of the river with some of my own photos taken with one hand, with a punt pole in the other hand. In many of them the front of the punt appears in the frame.
But it is largely quotations and pictures and prints from the many authors and painters who have appreciated this great river.
I am an enthusiast for poetry and though there is a persistent refrain that the great river poem has yet to be written nevertheless I do love much of what has been written and have included almost every river poem I can find at the most appropriate place.

Notes

The Maps, (for example the barrier) which open on a separate tab in Internet Explorer, are VIRTUAL EARTH showing the current position. They also provide a link to the same position in GOOGLE MAPS, STREETMAP, AA MAP, MULTIMAP, and OLD OS MAPS. And the good thing is - as you drag the VIRTUAL EARTH MAP all those links are updated to the current position (only within UK).
[ Anybody who wants to copy that is welcome - only don't use my bandwidth! Copy the whole thing to your site. ]

I have avoided going on about wash and engine noise and litter and notice boards - I simply leave that to George Leslie and Jerome K Jerome - they make the point far better than I!

A licence is needed in order to navigate even a manually propelled boat on the Thames. Click here

This site starts from the Estuary and goes towards Cricklade, going UPSTREAM.
However, throughout, "left bank" and "right bank" have been used from the conventional point of view, FACING DOWNSTREAM. This is the usual convention and causes immense confusion if it is not adhered to.
1859: All the Year Round by Charles Dickens -

The right and the left banks of rivers are distinguished by turning your back on their source and facing the point where they discharge themselves into the sea.

Supposing the Thames to be the river in question ; you stand on Westminster-bridge and look towards Margate : Lambeth will be on the right bank, the city of Westminster on the left.

Tamas Reaches, by Jenyth Worsley, May 2003,
by kind permission, www.riverthamessociety.org.uk/poetryc4.htm

Near the railway bridge on the road to Cirencester
you pass a sign which says, Source of the River Thames.
Its underground spring comes up for breath
through banks that are hardly higher than the water.
Trout are here, otters and water voles.
Take the meandering rivers path through Lechlade,
whose stone-built houses keep their hidden views,
until, near Oxford, wider waters offer
residence to house-boats, fishermen and geese.

From Putney to Mortlake
leaning and pulling
oars on the rowlocks
dipping and twisting
past Barn Elms and Hammersmith
sweatshirts sodden
with splashes and straining
megaphones shouting
to dark blue and light blue
victors triumphant
stride through the water
but slumping defeated the losers stay listless
Where fretful salt meets yellow-brownish sludge

The old Thames sang of rotting wood and skulls,
barbyl, flounders, spearheads, bits of rope.
Its pre-Celt name was Tamas, dark river.
At this forum of city stone and water
the old trades are gone. Docks and wharves,
where two thousand masts once glittered on the water
with cargoes of tea and sugar, silk and oranges,
and steamers to the Empire bruised the oceans
with holds of steel and missionary trunks
all are transformed by the new commerce,
the new river gods, Finance and the Media.
Below their elegant glass powerhouses
sailboards catch the wind
and wine and coffee bars displace
oyster and apple stalls

Daniel Defoe:

I shall speak of the river as occasion presents, as it really is made glorious by the splendour of its shores, gilded with noble palaces, strong fortifications, large hospitals, and public buildings; with the greatest bridge, and the greatest city in the world, made famous by the opulence of its merchants, the increase and extensiveness of its commerce; by its invincible navies, and by the innumerable fleets of ships sailing upon it to and from all parts of the world.
As I meet with the river upwards in my travels through the inland country I shall speak of it, as it is the channel for conveying an infinite quantity of provisions from remote counties to London, and enriching all the counties again that lie near it by the return of wealth and trade from the city; and in describing these things I expect both to inform and divert my readers, and speak in a more masculine manner, more to the dignity of the subject, and also more to their satisfaction, than I could do any other way.

Sources

This list does go on a bit - you might prefer to start looking at the river pages themselves!

AUTHOR	TITLE	YEAR	ISBN	PAGES	COMMENT
(Cassell)	Thames and its Story, From the Cotswolds to the Nore	1906	ASIN: B0015IQ8IO	With about 100 illustrations and 14 maps.	No author named
(Letts)	Thames Valley	1969	Motorguide
(Nicholson 1)	Guide to the Waterways 1	2003	Grand Union, Oxford & S.E.
(Nicholson 7)	Guide to the Waterways 7	1997	Thames, Wey, Kennet & Avon
(Nicholson)	Ordnance Survey Guide to the Thames	1984
(Nicholson)	Inland Waterways Map	2000
(NRA)	River Thames Handbook	1985?
(Stanford)	River Thames map	1976
(TYC etc)	Thames Book	1981
Adams, Anna	Thames: An Anthology of River Poems	1999	ISBN 1 900564 46 7
Ashby-Sterry, J	The Lazy Minstrel	1886	Poems
Ashby-Sterry, J	Thames items from The Lazy Minstrel	1886	On this site
Atkinson, Mary	The Thames-side Book	1973	112p b&w illustrations
Ball, E & PW	Holiday Cruising On The Thames	1970	145 pages, Published by David & Charles 1970
Belloc, Hilaire	Historic Thames	1914
Belloc, Hilaire	River of London	1912	145 pages, 1 illustration
Birch G H	London on Thames in Bygone Days	1903	90 pages many illustrations
Bolland, R.R.	Victorians on the Thames	1974	100 Victorian prints & photos
Boney, Revd Prof	Royal River: Henley to Maidenhead Richmond to Battersea	1885
Burstall, Patricia	Golden Age of the Thames	1981
Cleaver, Hylton	History of Rowing	1959
Cornish, C J	Naturalist on the Thames	1902	With photos (Gutenberg eBooks)
Cove-Smith	River Thames Book	1998	ISBN 0 85288 620 9 :218 pages, Published by Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson November 1998 Covers Cricklade to the Thames barrier plus the River Wey, Basingstoke Canal and part of the Kennet & Avon.
Curtis, Roy	Thames Passport	1970	188 pages. Delightful guide to the non-tidal part of the River Thames, from Lechlade to Teddington
De Mar, Eric	Time on the Thames	1952	238 pages, Published by The Architectural Press 1952 A guide to the river by this well known waterways writer and photographer. 127 photographs plus other illustrations
Dodd, Christopher	Henley Royal Regatta	1989	150th anniversary
Doerflinger, Frederic	Slow Boat through England. Exploring the Inland Waterways	1970	Includes Thames
Eade, Brian (no relation!)	Along the Thames	1997	ISBN 0 7509 1543 9 :126 pages, Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd 1997 The non-tidal river with over 200 historic views and text
Eddy, Clyde	Voyaging Down the Thames	1938	Frederick Stokes Co 1938 317pp an intimate account of a voyage 200 miles across England, Down the River of Liquid history the Thames.
Eyre, Frank & Hadfield, Charles	English Rivers and Canals	1945
Fidler, Kathleen	The Thames in Story	1971
Forester, C S	Hornblower and the Atropos	1953	Hornblower steers a horse drawn narrow boat (at 11mph!) down the Thames & Severn Canal and then Flash weirs on the Thames.
Fox Smith, C	Thames	1931
Fraser, Maxwell	The Thames Valley in Pictures	1950s?	Undated. Black & White photos and map
Gedge, Paul	Thames Journey	1949	A book for boat-campers and lovers of the river. 67 photos and 2 maps
Gibbings, Robert	Sweet Thames Run Softly	1940	with B&W drawings
Gibbings, Robert	Till I End My Song	1957	234 pages, Published by J M Dent 1957 The story of a move to a Berkshire village that allows the author to enrich his knowledge of part of the Thames
Goldsack, Paul	River Thames in the footsteps of the famous	2002	B&W cartoons & maps
Gordon, Colin	Beyond the Looking Glass	1944	Behind the Alice stories
Hadfield, Charles	British Canals	1952	Drawings & reproductions
Hall, S.C, Mr & Mrs	The Book of the Thames	1859 1976	516 pages, Published by Arthur James Ltd 1976 Written 1859 Reprint of an 1859 book with many engravings of wild life and scenery.
Harrison, Ian	The Thames from Source to Sea	2004	Overhead photos of the whole river
Harris, Mollie	Stripling Thames (Source to Oxford)	1994
Higgins, Walter	Father Thames (Book III the Upper River)	1923
Holinshed	The Chronicles of England	1586	The Description of the Thames
Hughes, T	Tom Brown at Oxford	1861 published 1879	Part II of Tom Brown's Schooldays
Irwin, John & Herbert, Jocelyn	Sweete Themmes	1951	An Anthology with prints
Jerome K Jerome	Three Men in a Boat	1886?
Jones, Sydney R	Thames Triumphant	1943	B&W drawings
Lang, Andrew	Oxford	1906	B&W drawings. My copy Ex Libris Hardy Amies. I met him once. He was a guest at a wedding service I took. Afterwards he told me Your service was an example of controlled chic. Having had a champagne or two I challenged him What do you mean controlled?
Leslie, George	Our River	1881	B&W prints Leslie was an artist, naturalist and punter
Lewis, C S	Diaries	1920s	He was a young post-graduate aged 23, just beginning to enjoy life in Oxford after the first war. He later became one of the most popular Christian writers of the twentieth century. Forty years on I met him in Oxford when I was a sixth former.
MacColl, D	Royal River: Oxford to Abingdon	1885
Mee, Arthur	Oxfordshire	1942
Menpes, Mortimer	Thames (& G.E.Mitton)	1906	Watercolours
Mitton, G.E.	Thames painted by E W Haslehurst	1910	56 pages, Published by Blackie & Son Ltd 1910 Beautiful England series with 12 full colour plates
Nicholson	Ordnance Survey Guide to the Thames	1984
Nicholson 1	Guide to the Waterways 1	2003	Grand Union, Oxford & S.E.
Nicholson 7	Guide to the Waterways 7	1997	Thames, Wey, Kennet & Avon
Ollier, Edmund	Royal River Battersea to London Bridge	1885
Peel, J.H.B.	Portrait Of The Thames - From Teddington To The Source	1976
Penderell-Brodhurst J	Royal River: Abingdon to Streatley & Hampton to Richmond	1885
Phillips (Bonhams)	Traditional River Craft And Ephemera.	1997, 1998, 2002	Illustrated Auction Catalogues
Pilkington, Roger	Small Boat on the Thames	1966	238 pages, Published by Macmillan Publishers (UK) Ltd 1966 Illustrated.
Pilkington, Roger	Thames Waters	1956
Pitt, John William	River Thames A Descriptive Poem (from Source to Mouth)	1939	77pp Poem with BW photos
Prichard, Mari & Carpenter, Humphrey	A Thames Companion	1975	194pp B&W illustrations
Ravenstein E.G.	Oarsman's & Angler's Map Of The River Thames From Its Source To London Bridge. One Inch To A Mile. 1893.	1893. 1991
Reade, Charles	Hard Cash	1868	Rowing excerpts on this site
Rivington, R T	Punts And Punting (Booklet)	1982	B&W photos & drawings Booklet
Rivington, R T	Punting (Book)	1983	B&W photos & drawings
Roberts, Chris	Cross River Traffic	2005	A History of London's Bridges
Runciman, J	Royal River Gravesend to the Nore	1885
Ryan, E K W	Thames from the Towpath	1938
Sampson, Aylwin	Winning Waters, The Homes of Rowing	1986
Senior, W	Royal River: Above Oxford & Streatley to Henley	1885
Sharp, David	Thames Path	1981
Schutz Wilson, H	Royal River Maidenhead to Windsor	1885
Skyscan and Duncan Mackay	The Secret Thames	1992	Captive Balloon Aerial Photography, and text by Duncan Mackay, Commodore of Henley Sailing Club
Taylor, Julia Isham	Down the Thames in Victorian Days	1939	A trip on the Thames in 1886
Thacker, Fred S	Thames Highway. Volume I	1914, 1968	1914 original 2 volumes 832 pages, Published by David & Charles 1968 Illustrated. In general if you want to know where any piece of information comes from on this site the usual answer is Fred Thacker.
Thacker, Fred S	Thames Highway: Volume II - A History of the Locks and Weirs	1920, 1968	525 pages, Published by Published by the author 1920 The second volume of this History of the Thames.
Tomalin, Harry	Henley-on-Thames, the book of	1975
Vincent, J E	Story of the Thames	1909
Wack, Henry Wellington	In Thamesland	1906	Cruises and Rambles through England from the Surces of the Thames to the Sea. An American on the Thames. 375pp. Photos by Frith and Taunt.
Wallington, Mark	Boogie up the River	1990	One Man and his Dog to the Source of the Thames
Waters, Brian	Thirteen Rivers to the Thames	1964	Thirteen Tributaries
Waters, Tony	Bridge by bridge through London	1989
Watson, Aaron	Royal River: London Bridge to Gravesend	1885
Williams, Nigel	Two and a half Men in a Boat	1993
Wilson, David Gordon	Making of the Middle Thames	1977	159pp B&W illustrations
Wordsworth Turner, Godfrey	Royal River: Windsor to Hampton	1885
Wykeham-Martin	How to Build a Thames Punt	1919	Plans (in Punts Rivington)
Wykes, Alan	An Eye on the Thames	1966	217pp B&W photos

To the Estuary















Introduction
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
Rose Revived
Newbridge
Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS