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River Thames

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

                       Thames
   The River Thames in London

                         The River Thames in London

   Origin           Kemble
   Mouth            North Sea
   Basin countries  England
   Length           346 km (215 mi)
   Source elevation 110 m (360 ft)
   Avg. discharge   Entering Oxford: 17.6 m³/ s
                    Leaving Oxford: 24.8 m³/ s
                    Reading: 39.7 m³/ s
                    Windsor: 59.3 m³/ s
                    London¹: 65.8 m³/ s
   Basin area       12,935 km² (4,994 mi²)

   The Thames ( pronounced [temz]) is a river flowing through southern
   England, in its lower reaches flowing through London into the sea. It
   is one of the major waterways in England.

History

Recorded history

   The Thames provided the major highway between London and Westminster in
   the 16th and 17th centuries. The clannish guild of watermen ferried
   Londoners from landing to landing and tolerated no outside
   interference.

   In the 17th and 18th centuries, during the period now referred to as
   the Little Ice Age, the Thames often froze over in the winter. This led
   to the first Frost Fair in 1607, complete with a tent city set up on
   the river itself and offering a number of amusements, including ice
   bowling. After temperatures began to rise again, starting in 1814, the
   river has never frozen over completely. The building of a new London
   Bridge in 1825 may also have been a factor; the new bridge had fewer
   pillars than the old, so allowing the river to flow more freely, thus
   preventing it from flowing slowly enough to freeze in cold winters.

   By the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest
   waterways, as London became the centre of the vast, mercantile British
   Empire. During this time, one of the worst river disasters in England
   took place on 3 September 1878, when the crowded pleasure boat Princess
   Alice collided with the Bywell Castle, killing over 640.
   View looking west, from the high-level walkway on Tower Bridge. Click
   on the picture for a longer description
   Enlarge
   View looking west, from the high-level walkway on Tower Bridge. Click
   on the picture for a longer description

   In the ' Great Stink' of 1858, pollution in the river reached such
   proportions that sittings at the House of Commons at Westminster had to
   be abandoned. A concerted effort to contain the city's sewage, by
   constructing massive sewers on the north and south river embankments
   followed, under the supervision of engineer Joseph Bazalgette.

   The coming of rail and road transportation and the decline of the
   Empire, in the years following 1914, have reduced the prominence of the
   river. London itself is no longer a port of any note and the Port of
   London has moved downstream to Tilbury. In return, the river has
   undergone a massive clean-up, since the filthy days of the late 19th
   and early- to mid-20th centuries and aquatic life has returned to its
   formerly 'dead' waters.

   In the early 1980s a massive flood-control device, the Thames Barrier,
   was opened. It is closed several times a year to prevent water damage
   to London's low-lying areas upstream (as in the 1928 Thames flood for
   example). In the late 1990s, the 12-km-long Jubilee River was built,
   which acts as a flood channel for the Thames around Maidenhead and
   Windsor.

Origin of the name

   The river's name appears always to have been pronounced with a simple
   "t" at the beginning; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese
   and Latin Tamesis. The "th" lends an air of Greek to the name and was
   added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief
   that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus region of
   Greece, whence early Celtic tribes are thought to have migrated.
   However, most scholars now believe Temese and Tamesis come from Celtic
   ( Brythonic) Tamesa, possibly meaning 'the dark one'.

   The name Isis, given to the part of the river running through Oxford,
   may have come from the Egyptian goddess of that name but is believed to
   be a contraction of Tamesis, the Latin (or pre-Roman Celtic) name.
   Richard Coates has recently suggested that the river was called the
   Thames upriver, where it was narrower and Plowonida down river, where
   it was too wide to ford. This gave the name to a settlement on its
   banks, which became known as Londinium, from the original root
   Plowonida (derived from pre-celtic Old European 'plew' and 'nejd,'
   meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable
   river).

Geography

Course

   Map of the River Thames

   The Thames has a length of 346 km (215 miles). Its usually quoted
   source is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994), about a mile
   north of the village of Kemble and near the town of Cirencester, in the
   Cotswolds. However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham, where the river
   Churn rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this
   location is furthest from the mouth both in distance along its course
   and as the crow flies. The springs at Seven Springs also flow
   throughout the year, while those at Thames Head are only seasonal.

   The Thames then flows through Lechlade, Oxford, Abingdon, Wallingford,
   Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Eton, Staines
   and Weybridge, before entering the Greater London area.

   The river itself rises in Gloucestershire, traditionally forming the
   county boundary, firstly between Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, between
   Berkshire on the south bank and Oxfordshire on the north, between
   Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, between Berkshire and Surrey, between
   Surrey and Middlesex and between Essex and Kent. Before the 1974
   boundary changes, the current boundary between Berkshire and Surrey was
   between Buckinghamshire and Surrey. The Oxfordshire - Berkshire
   boundary was also moved at that time.

   The area to the west of London is normally called the Thames Valley,
   whilst east is called Thames Gateway.

Catchment area and discharge

   The lower course of the Thames in 1840
   Enlarge
   The lower course of the Thames in 1840

   The whole of the river drains a catchment area of some 12,935 square km
   (4,994 square miles) or 15,343 square km (5,924 square miles) if the
   River Medway is included as a tributary.

The non-tidal section

   Innumerable brooks, streams and rivers, within an area of 9948 square
   km (3,841 square miles), combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding
   the Thames between its source and Teddington. These include the rivers
   Churn, Leach, Cole, Coln, Windrush, Evenlode, Cherwell, Ock, Thame,
   Pang, Kennet, Loddon, Colne, Wey and Mole.

   Between Maidenhead and Windsor, the Thames supports an artificial
   secondary channel, known as the Jubilee River, for flood relief
   purposes.

   More than half the rain that falls on this catchment is lost to
   evaporation and plant growth. The remainder provides the water resource
   that has to be shared between river flows, to support the natural
   environment and the community needs for water supplies to homes,
   industry and agriculture. During heavy rainfall events the Thames
   occasionally receives raw sewage discharge due to sanitary sewer
   overflow.

The tidal section

   The River Thames flooding at Chiswick Lane South in London's W4 postal
   district.
   Enlarge
   The River Thames flooding at Chiswick Lane South in London's W4 postal
   district.

   About 90 km from the sea, at Teddington, the river begins to exhibit
   tidal activity from the North Sea. This tidal stretch of the river is
   known as "the Tideway". London was reputedly made capital of Roman
   Britain at the spot where the tides reached in AD 43 but this spot has
   moved up river, in the 2000 years since then, because of the glacial
   rebound effect. At London, the water is slightly brackish with sea
   salt. Below Teddington, the principal tributaries include the rivers
   Brent, Wandle, Effra, Westbourne, Fleet, Ravensbourne (the final part
   of which is called Deptford Creek), Lea, Darent and Ingrebourne.

   The average discharge of the Thames grows up to approximately 66 m³/s
   (cumecs) at the end of its non-tidal section, at Kingston upon Thames,
   a figure which is exceeded by some other British rivers (e.g., the
   Severn and the Tay). Indeed, if the Thames were not a tidal river, its
   average discharge in the centre of London would be somewhere between 80
   and 100 m³/s, and the Thames would look like a small river, not the
   large river we can see today by Westminster, the Houses of Parliament
   or the City.

   Some low-lying areas beside the tidal section of the Thames are liable
   to regular flooding at spring tides. However, in recent years, the
   flooding has been occurring more frequently at unusual times. One such
   example exists at Chiswick Lane South in London's W4 postal district,
   where the river now bursts its banks almost daily between March and
   September.

Navigation

   Bray lock, Berkshire
   Enlarge
   Bray lock, Berkshire
   St John's lock, near Lechlade.
   Enlarge
   St John's lock, near Lechlade.

   The Thames is navigable from the estuary as far as Lechlade in
   Gloucestershire. Between the sea and Teddington Lock, the river forms
   part of the Port of London and navigation is administered by the Port
   of London Authority. From Teddington Lock to the head of navigation,
   the navigation authority is the Environment Agency.

   The river is navigable to large ocean-going ships as far as the Pool of
   London and London Bridge. Today little commercial traffic passes above
   the docks at Tilbury and central London sees only the occasional
   visiting cruise ship or warship, moored alongside HMS Belfast and a few
   smaller aggregate or refuse vessels, operating from wharves in the west
   of London. Both the tidal river through London and the non-tidal river
   upstream are intensively used for leisure navigation.

   There are 45 locks on the River Thames. See Locks on the River Thames
   for a full list of all locks.

Crossings

   Railway bridge at Maidenhead
   Enlarge
   Railway bridge at Maidenhead

   The river is crossed by many bridges and tunnels. Famous crossings of
   the Thames include:
   Sunset on the river Thames viewed from Greenwich
   Enlarge
   Sunset on the river Thames viewed from Greenwich
   View of River thames from Limehouse on a Autumn Evening
   Enlarge
   View of River thames from Limehouse on a Autumn Evening
     * Dartford Crossing
     * Thames Barrier
     * Blackwall Tunnel
     * Rotherhithe Tunnel
     * Thames Tunnel
     * Tower Bridge
     * London Bridge
     * Millennium Bridge
     * Hungerford Bridge
     * Westminster Bridge
     * Maidenhead Railway Bridge
     * Marlow Bridge
     * Windsor Railway Bridge

   See Crossings of the River Thames for a full list of all crossings.

Islands

   Famous islands in the Thames include:
     * Isle of Sheppey
     * Canvey Island
     * Isle of Grain
     * Eel Pie Island, Twickenham
     * Magna Carta Island, Runnymede
     * Fry's Island, Reading (sometimes known as De Montfort Island)

   See Islands in the River Thames for a full list of all islands.

Ecology-Biology

Culture

   River Thames at Sandford Lock.
   Enlarge
   River Thames at Sandford Lock.

Literature

   The Thames is a motif in many books. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K.
   Jerome describes a boat trip up the Thames; published in 1889, it has
   never been out of print, proof of the continuing influence of the
   Thames on the literary imagination. Other authors took inspiration from
   this best-selling comic novel (with its side-nods to social
   commentary). Examples include poet Kim Taplin's 1993 travelogue Three
   Women in a Boat and Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog.
   Somewhere near the Oxford stretch is where the Liddells were rowing in
   the poem at the start of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The river is
   almost a character in its own right in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in
   the Willows and its derivatives. The utopian News from Nowhere is
   mainly the account of a journey through the Thames valley in a
   socialist future.

   In books set in London there is Sherlock Holmes looking for a boat in
   The Sign of Four. Many of Charles Dickens's novels feature the Thames.
   Oliver Twist finishes in the slums and rookeries along its south bank.
   Our Mutual Friend begins with a scavenger and his daughter pulling a
   dead man from the river, to legally salvage what the body might have in
   its pockets. Dickens opens the novel with this sketch of the river, and
   the people who work on it:

     In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no
     need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance,
     with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark
     Bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an
     autumn evening was closing in.

   The Thames also features prominently in Philip Pullman's His Dark
   Materials trilogy, as a communications artery for the waterborne
   Gyptian people of Oxford and the Fens.

   In poetry, T.S. Eliot references the Thames at the beginning of The
   Fire Sermon, Section III of "The Waste Land".

   In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the old sailor Marlow begins his
   yarn while sitting on a boat in the Thames. The serenity of the
   contemporary Thames is contrasted with the savagery of the Congo River,
   and with the wilderness of the Thames as it would have appeared to a
   Roman soldier posted to Brittania two thousand years before. Conrad
   also gives a memorable description of the approach to London from the
   Thames Estuary in his essays The Mirror of the Sea (1906).

Sport

   The River Thames in Oxford
   Enlarge
   The River Thames in Oxford

   Rowing and sailing are the main sports which take place on the River
   Thames, though punting and skiffing also take place; unlike the
   'pleasure punting' common on the Cherwell in Oxford and the Cam in
   Cambridge punting on the Thames is competitive and uses narrower craft.
   There are many clubs which encourage participation in these sports and
   organise racing and inter-club competitions. Kayaking on the River
   Thames is also popular, with sea kayakers using the tidal stretch for
   touring, and whitewater playboaters surfing Hurley Weir and Boulter's
   Weir.

Rowing

   The Thames is the historic heartland of rowing in the United Kingdom.
   There are over 200 clubs on the river, which make up 40% of the
   membership of the Amateur Rowing Association. Most towns and districts
   of any size on the river have a club, but key centres are Oxford,
   Henley-on-Thames and the stretch of river from Chiswick to Putney.

   Clubs notable for their size, history or success include (travelling
   downstream):
     * Wallingford Rowing Club
     * Leander Club, Henley on Thames
     * Upper Thames Rowing Club, Henley on Thames
     * Marlow Rowing Club
     * Weybridge Rowing Club
     * Molesey Boat Club
     * Kingston Rowing Club
     * Twickenham Rowing Club
     * Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Rowing Club, Chiswick
     * Tideway Scullers School, Chiswick
     * Furnivall Sculling Club, Hammersmith
     * Auriol Kensington Rowing Club, Hammersmith]]
     * Thames Rowing Club, Putney
     * London Rowing Club, Putney

   Notable university clubs include (travelling downstream):
     * Oxford University Boat Club
     * Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club
     * Oxford University Women's Boat Club
     * Oxford University Women's Lightweight Rowing Club
     * Oxford Brookes University Boat Club
     * Reading University Boat Club
     * University of London Boat Club
     * Imperial College Boat Club

   Notable school clubs include (travelling downstream):
     * Headington School Boat Club
     * Radley College Boat Club
     * St Edward's School Boat Club
     * Eton College Boat Club
     * Windsor Boys School Boat Club
     * Lady Eleanor Holles School Boat Club
     * Hampton School Boat Club
     * St Paul's School Boat Club
     * Westminster School Boat Club
     * King's College School Boat Club

   Two rowing events on the River Thames are traditionally part of the
   wider English sporting calendar:

   The University Boat Race is rowed between Oxford University Boat Club
   and the Cambridge University Boat Club in late March or early April, on
   the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake in the west of London.

   Henley Royal Regatta takes place over five days at the start of July in
   the upstream town of Henley-on-Thames. Besides its sporting
   significance the regatta is an important date on the English social
   calendar alongside events like Royal Ascot and Wimbledon.

   Other significant or historic rowing events on the Thames include the
   Head of the River Race and other head races over the Championship
   Course, Henley Women's Regatta, the Wingfield Sculls, Doggett's Coat
   and Badge, the Henley Boat Races and the Oxford University bumping
   races known as Eights Week and Torpids. Innumerable other regattas,
   Head races and bumping races are held along the Thames.

Sailing Clubs on the non-tidal river

   (in order downstream)
     * Medley Sailing Club - Oxford
     * Abbey SC - Abingdon
     * Goring Thames SC
     * Henley SC
     * Marlow SC
     * Upper Thames SC - Bourne End
     * Cookham Reach SC
     * Staines SC
     * London River Yacht Club - Kingston-upon-Thames
     * Desborough SC - Shepperton
     * Weybridge SC
     * Aquarius SC - Hampton
     * Hampton SC
     * Thames SC - Surbiton
     * Tamesis Club - Teddington
     * Ariel Sailing Club - Teddington

Trivia

     * The Sex Pistols played a concert on the Queen Elizabeth Riverboat
       on June 7, 1977, the Queen's Silver Jubilee, while sailing down the
       river.
     * On January 20, 2006, a northern 16-18ft (5m) bottle-nosed whale was
       spotted in the Thames and was seen as far upstream as Chelsea. This
       is extremely unusual because this type of whale is generally found
       in deep sea waters. Crowds gathered along the riverbanks to witness
       the extraordinary spectacle. But it soon became clear there was
       cause for concern, as the animal came within yards of the banks,
       almost beaching, and crashed into an empty boat causing slight
       bleeding. Approx. 12 hours later, the whale was believed to be seen
       again near Greenwich, possibly heading back to sea . There was a
       rescue attempt lasting several hours, but it eventually died on a
       barge. See River Thames whale.
     * Amongst unusual objects floated along the Thames include a Eurostar
       Railway locomotive, a Concorde aircraft and a U boat Submarine.
     * It is not unusual to see the French navy in the Thames, very often
       French naval vessels make official visits to the Royal Navy dock,
       HMS President, just by the Tower Bridge.
     * While writing in his diary in June 1667 Samuel Pepys was disturbed
       by the sound of gunfire, as Dutch warships on the Thames broke
       through the Royal Navy to invade London.
     * Polar explorer and endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh became the first
       person ever to swim the length of the River Thames. His journey
       started on 17th July 2006 close to the source of the river in
       Gloucestershire and ended 147 miles later in London. Pugh undertook
       the challenge to raise awareness of climate change.
     * At various times there have been claims that angels have been
       sighted over the river.

Religion

   When a Roman Catholic converts to Anglicanism, that person is said to
   have "swum the Thames". The reverse is referred to as "swimming the
   Tiber".

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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