The Thames Path by Leigh Hatts

The Thames Path between the Albert Embankment and St George Wharf at Vauxhall has reopened.

The lengthy closure with a diversion along the main road had been to allow work on the Thames Tideway, or ‘Super Sewer’, tunnel.

Behind Tintagel House the path passes over a line marked Effra Quay where a new wide platform reaches into the River Thames.

Alongside upstream is Lack’s Dock.

Immediately upstream the riverside path behind Vauxhall Cross, the MI6 building, has also reopened. At the far end next to Vauxhall Bridge there is another platform, being called the Isle of Effra, reaching out into the Thames.

The former Effra Creek has long been covered by St George Wharf and the River Effra now enters the Thames on each side of Vauxhall Bridge.

The new Isle of Effra viewpoint affords a close view of one of Vauxhall Bridge’s little seen statues by Alfred Drury RA.

The pedestrian tunnel taking the Thames Path under Vauxhall Bridge to reach St George Wharf has also now reopened.

Next month two Thames Piers will be given new names.

Doubletree Docklands Nelson Dock Pier is being renamed Rotherhithe Pier.

This was once just Nelson Dock Pier with Doubletree added recently when the 1980s hotel building was rebranded DoubleTree Hotel.

Shortly Rotherhithe Pier will be served by Orbit Clipper, the UK’s first fully electric, zero-emission cross-river passenger ferry on the Rotherhithe-Canary Wharf crossing. The vessel has been built by White Shipyard at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Upstream Plantation Wharf Pier will become St Mary’s Wandsworth Pier. The existing name recalls sugar cane being landed here from barges sent up from the docks. One of the blocks of offices turned flats is called Molasses House.

The new name will be less confusing although riverside St Mary’s church is 0.75 miles (1.17 km) from the pier.

The changes come into force from Monday 7 April.

Both piers are served by Thames Clippers Uber Boat.

The 2025 Blessing of the River Thames in central London is on Sunday 12 January.

At 12.30pm processions will set out from St Magnus the Martyr Church on the north bank and Southwark Cathedral on the south bank to meet on London Bridge.

For just over 125 years the downstream London Bridge pavement ran under the tower of St Magnus which earlier had care of the 12th-century bridge chapel dedicated to St Thomas Becket.

This year St Magnus Cardinal Rector Philip Warner will welcome the outdoor congregation before Dean of Southwark The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley introduces the celebration.

The annual event takes place on Baptism Sunday which recalls the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist.

The Greek Orthodox Church gathered last Sunday at Sonning for the Blessing of the River and Margate in the Thames estuary for the Blessing of the Seas.

Deconstruction work has begun at Chambers Wharf, a Thames Tideway or ‘super sewer’ site, on Bermondsey Wall.

With tunnelling complete, deconstruction involves removal of infill from the temporary concrete cofferdam. This long task is being undertaken by barges sailing to and from Tilbury. The operation is expected to be completed in January.

A new river wall is being built.

Only following building of residential blocks on the wharf will the new riverside path be opened sometime after 2030.

Chambers Wharf was known for its bonded warehouses and cold store for imported food.

Twenty bodies found next to Cookham church confirm that the Saxon convent operated as a hospital says Professor of Early Medieval Archaeology Gabor Thomason.

He was speaking at the end of Reading University‘s annual dig the west side of Cookham’s riverside church which is the abbey’s successor.

“There appears to be a high prevalence of disease and healed injuries present in disturbed bone redeposited in later graves as well as intact burials. Parts of the cemetery were heavily used. Burials here intercut each other resulting in the disturbance of skeletal material placed back in the fill of subsequent graves. This demonstrates that individuals were receiving medical attention and care at the monastery over successive generations.

‘Our discoveries highlight the importance of Anglo-Saxon monasteries as centres of healing and medical care.

‘We can gain an impression of this role from contemporary historical sources, but Cookham is one of the first archaeological sites to provide detailed physical evidence for the range of diseases involved and medical care dispensed by contemporary monastic communities.’

Also during August the excavation of a 9th-century well was completed and a timber lined ditch near the Thames was identified as a leat for a watermill.

Queen Cynethryth, widow of Offa, was abbess from 796 to 798.

Last month’s work ended at the weekend with the vicar Stephen Mills blessing the re-buried bodies.

The University is planning to continue excavations every August until at least 2028.

McDonald’s is celebrating 50 years in the UK.

The first branch in the now famous fast food chain opened during 1974 in Woolwich and today it is featuring as the climax to the current anniversary television commercial.

To visit the ‘first McDonalds’ from the Thames Path walk through Woolwich Arsenal to Beresford Square and at Woolwich Arsenal DLR Station turn right into Powis Street.

McDonald’s does not have a huge presence along the Thames Path although the Wandsworth Bridge branch is popular as a handy, or speedy, alternative to a very packed pub.

Another Thames bridge has closed.

The Bloomer’s Hole bridge near Lechlade is closed for repair.

The diversion, in place and signed, is a return to the route used until the millennium. The bridge has lasted 25 years.

Turn north up the long straight path and then left along a road to cross the tiny River Leach. Go left again passing The Trout to cross St John’s Bridge. A small gate on the right leads to a stepped path down to St John’s Lock where Old Father Thames can be found.

Walkers will encounter the annual Henley Royal Regatta this week on the approach to Henley.

After Hambleden Lock the towpath is soon alongside the Straight Course which was first used a century ago in 1924.

This slightly altered the shape of Temple Island and changed the Berkshire bank opposite.

Expect crowds and a diversion near Henley Bridge until after the last day on Sunday 7 July.

The St Frideswide’s Way is being inaugurated on Wednesday morning when a group of walkers set out from Christ Church Oxford for Reading Abbey.

Saint Frideswide, a Saxon princess who died in 727, is the patron saint of Oxford. Her reconstructed shrine is in the cathedral found within the college.

Thames walkers may know of her association with the treacle well at Binsey church.

The new St Frideswide’s Way route largely follows the Thames Path to Reading.

One can of course be a pilgrim walking on the Thames Path from Reading to Oxford’s cathedral -turning right at Folly Bridge.

But the idea of walking to Reading is that there you can join the St James Way running south to Winchester and Southampton. Once you could sail from the port to Galicia and reach the shrine of St James the Great in Santiago de Compostela by way of the short Camino Ingles.

Today most people walk through France on the famous Camino routes.

But just as the Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester to Canterbury is a long walk from St Swithun to St Thomas Becket so this new route could be called a long walk including voyage from St Frideswide to St James.

The St Frideswide’s Way will become part of the Camino Ingles to Santiago de Compostela and the distance walked will count towards the certificate which can be gained on arrival at Santiago.

But if not continuing to Spain one can at Reading recall that St James’s Hand was at the Abbey until the Reformation. The relic is now in the care of St Peter’s Church in Marlow where it is occasionally displayed.

On Wednesday morning 26 June the Bishop of Oxford will be at Christ Church to send the pilgrims on their way to Abingdon led by the college chaplain Dr Zachary Guiliano.

Wallingford will reached on Thursday and Pangbourne on Friday. Reading Abbey should be reached at about 3.30pm on Saturday.

There will be a 62 round gun salute from Tower Wharf today Tuesday 25 June at 12.10pm to welcome the Emperor of Japan to London.

This will be simultaneous with the Emperor and Empress being greeted by the King and Queen on Horse Guards Parade at the start of a State Visit.

The salute in the Pool of London will have resonance for Emperor Naruhito who got to know the River Thames during his years as an Oxford student.

Not only is he familiar with The Perch at Binsey and The Trout Inn at Godstow but he also has written about the river.

The Thames and I was published in 1992 and The Thames as a Highway; A study of navigation and traffic on the Upper Thames in the Eighteenth Century in 2006.

He has also made a continued study of flood prevention.

The full story is told in the River Thames Society‘s latest magazine Thames Guardian.

Emperor Naruhito, having arrived early with his wife for their State Visit, yesterday took the opportunity to visit the Thames Barrier.