Motley Talk about the Thames
Never mind the history that took place on its shores, or in boats, or on bridges. What about the river itself?
Dear Motley Friends, I recently took a boat ride, on a very hot day, from Kew to Westminster. It is a lovely trip and I spent most of my time looking at the waters of the River Thames. Stories about the river tell of invaders who sailed up the Thames (Romans), explorers who sailed down the Thames (Sir Walter Raleigh), bridges built over the Thames (London Bridge), castles (Tower of London) and palaces (Somerset House) built on the banks of the Thames. But they rarely tell stories about the actual river; so on my river trip I decided to tell you about the River Thames.
“A river is more than simply water flowing to the sea. A river also carries rocks and other sediments, dissolved minerals, plants, and animals, both dead and alive. In doing so, rivers transport large amounts of material and provide habitats for a great variety of wildlife. They carve valleys and deposit plains, being largely responsible for shaping the Earth’s continental landscapes.” 1
The Thames is a very old river. It is thought to have formed in the Ice Age when it flowed to the north of where London is now. Then ice sheets pushed the river south and the Thames has followed its current course for 10,000 years. The name is also old, and its origin not known; it may mean ‘dark’, and over the ages there have been many descriptions of the Thames as a dark river.
The Thames is the second longest river in England and almost bisects the country. It is around 215 miles long and navigable for 191 miles. The source of the river is also not certain, though it is usually given as a group of springs near the village of Coates, in Gloucestershire. The water seeps through the chalky limestone of the area, gathering in volume to become a river, and it starts on its journey to the North Sea.
To begin with the Thames is a freshwater river and it flows through beautiful countryside, that it helps to nurture. It continues to provide transport, a highway for trade & food, and water for domestic, industrial, & agricultural use. The energy of the river has also been used for watermills.
Salmon used to breed in the Thames, in Berkshire. The fish have an astonishing ability to spend 2-3 years in fresh water, then swim out to sea, to their feeding grounds off the coast of Greenland. After about 4 years salmon stop eating and swim back to the place they were born, to breed. The males die and their bodies make an important contribution to the ecosystem of the river. Most females also die, but some make it back to the feeding grounds.
In Irish mythology, in the legends of King Arthur, the salmon is associated with wisdom. The magic salmon gained the power of wisdom by consuming hazelnuts that had dropped into its pool.
But salmon has always been a favourite food, and even back in 1341 King Edward III received a petition, saying that too many salmon and other fish were being taken from the Thames. The last record of a swarming salmon in the Thames was in 1833.
From ancient times there have been many obstructions across the upper parts of the River Thames, mostly for fish-pounds and millers' weirs2. This caused problems for boats trying to move up and down river, as moving the dam each time a boat wanted to go past was inconvenient for all concerned. Since the 18th Century locks have been built to enable boats to easily navigate the river and the 361ft (110m) fall from source to sea. There are now 45 locks on the River Thames.
The Thames is home to more than 125 species of fish, including the occasional salmon, though they no longer swim upstream to breed. The European eel is still in the river, although on the ‘critically endangered’ list. Eels mature in the river and then make an epic journey to the Sargasso Sea3 (in the North Atlantic, near North America), to breed. One of the reasons they are endangered is because of the locks and other barriers in the Thames, that block off their migration route. The Zoological Society of London (ZLS) are trying to remove the estimated 2000 migration barriers in the Thames (or build fish ladders), not just for the eels but for the many other fish who move up & down the river, to feed & breed.
The Thames carries silt and mud throughout its journey. Depending on the turbulence or calmness of the water, it drops or picks up more debris from the bottom of the river. This makes for a murky and dark river. Divers cannot see much beyond their hands, especially if the mud is churned up for any reason. For that reason, the Thames has been considered a dirty (dark) and polluted river, which nowadays it is not.
But that was not the case in the past. Throughout the centuries, waste has been dumped in the river. In 1959 the River Thames was officially called a ‘dead’ river. This was due to all the human and industrial waste being dumped in the river, and the bombing in World War Two, that destroyed a lot of sewage pipes and deposited heavy metals in the river. For 20 miles, as the river passed central London, it was declared biologically dead, unable to sustain life.
There followed legislation, changes to the disposal of sewage, monitoring, cleaning the river – and the installation of bubblers. These are self-powered oxygenators that maintain oxygen in the river at a level sufficient to support growing fish populations. In 2010, the River Thames was selected as the winner of the prestigious International Theiss River Prize, “which celebrates outstanding achievement in river management and restoration”.
You might romantically imagine that Thames water flows all the way, unhindered, from its source in Gloucestershire. Not so. People have always used the freshwater in the Thames for irrigation and drinking. 80% of the water drunk in the Thames Valley comes from the Thames, and other rivers (and is returned after treatment). Although England is thought of as a rainy country, London gets less rain than Dallas, USA, or Rome in Italy!
Beyond the last lock, at Teddington, the River Thames gradually becomes tidal for about 95 miles, which in turn means different species of wildlife and fish. This is also when the shore of the Thames becomes heavily urbanised. To see historic London, you should get on a boat, as generations of Londoners have used the Thames as their principal travel route. Many historic buildings in London face the river.
Since Roman times (and probably before) people have been throwing religious items into the river. There are the remnants of past ages in the mud and silt; lost from boats, thrown into the river, wreckage from around 1000 boats that have sunk into the river, and the graveyard of people never found - suicides, murder victims and the unlucky who were in accidents and drowned.
Before the Thames reaches the Estuary, there is the huge Thames Barrier, at Woolwich. This was built to defend London from the periodic, and potentially devastating flooding that still occasionally occurs.
It is nearly time to leave the river. The gentle river that has flowed from its source, through countryside where wildflowers grow daintily on the riverbank, and tree branches drape elegantly over the water. Where the dragonflies skim, and bats glide silently through the dusk, snatching insects that hover just above the water. Fish slip through the water, under the eye of the heron sitting on a rock, as still as a statue.
Then fresh water meets sea water and becomes subject to the ebb & flow of the tide, and the Thames becomes a mature & capricious river. It flows through London, under bridges and past buildings of stone, brick and glass, that have seen tragedy & triumph for hundreds of years. Past the Tower of London, with its river gateway, past disused docks and renovated warehouses, with the ghosts of hundreds of tall ships, sails furled, as they unloaded goods from faraway lands. The Thames continues to flow down towards the North Sea.
At last the river finally pours into the vast Thames Estuary, a coastal wetland, where wildlife abounds; the last of the marshes that used to be all alongside the river. Birds fly above, and seals, porpoises, and dolphins frolic in the estuary. Occasionally an adventurous seal swims upstream, to entertain jaded Londoners.
The waters of the River Thames continue to flow, past London and out to the North Sea; as they have done for thousands of years, and will continue beyond a time when we ourselves are faint memories.
As always, any links are provided to give the reader more information. I do not make any money from these links. Where possible permissions have been sought for the use of images and text, unless they are in the Public Domain. If there is an issue with copyright, please contact me. I am an amateur historian covering a wide range of subjects. I do careful research using secondary sources (books, articles, videos and a little bit of Wikipedia). If there are any mistakes I apologise and please let me know.
Rivers: A Very Short Introduction by Nick Middleton. Another interesting book is Thames: Sacred River by Peter Ackroyd.
A weir is a small dam built across a body of water, such as a river, used to help control the flow of water to the waterwheel, for instance to grind flour. Now weirs are used for flood control.
The Sargasso Sea is named after sargassum, a free-floating seaweed found in the area.