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Wide River,
94 miles, 5 days,
45 broad locks, Tidal below Teddington Lock. All
Thames locks have lock-keepers who do all the hard work (below). Some
locks are mechanically operated and you can usually go through
them on your own outside the keepers working times. |
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 The
Thames is England's premier river and much of English history
has been lived, worked and fought over alongside this river.
London, was a Roman trading centre and port,
boats travelled up to Oxford from the the twelfth century
onwards, and palaces, castles, country houses, abbeys, water
mills, historic villages and inns are heavily scattered along
the Thames Valley, far too many to mention them all here.
The river rises near Cricklade in Wiltshire
and runs for just over 200 miles to enter the North Sea east of
London; the navigable Thames from Lechlade to London is 94 miles
so allow a week to cruise. The Upper Thames winds through
watermeadows, below Oxford the banks are more heavily wooded,
especially around Goring where the river cuts through the
southern end of the Chilterns. Closer to London modern dwellings
of every fashion and colour line the banks, and the London
river-front, past the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of
London, is world famous.
Oxford is renowned for its Universities and
churches and there's a wonderful view of its spires from the
river. Dorchester Abbey dates back to the 7th century while
Reading is the capital of England's Silicon Valley. The Henley
Royal Regatta is held on the river each July, Marlow has many
fine Georgian buildings and Cliveden House and gardens, famous
for their Churchill connections, sit high above a beautiful
steeply wooded stretch of river.
Windsor has its Castle, the largest inhabited
castle in the world, favourite home of Queen Elizabeth and now
restored to its full glory after the disastrous fire, and Great Park.
A
few miles further on Runnymede is where King John signed the
Magna Carta in 1215 and the Kennedy Memorial is sited, an
English acre given to the American people.
Hampton Court Palace
is just before Teddington where the river becomes semi tidal.
The canal system can be joined at Brentford or by carrying on
along the commercial Thames through the heart of London to
Limehouse basin, leaving the now wide river to head for the sea. |
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The
Thames forms part of the Thames Ring, with the
