The Thames Path by Leigh Hatts

Walking from Vauxhall towards Battersea Power Station it has long been necessary to briefly join the main road opposite Waitrose before returning to the river at Tideway Walk.

The obstruction was the Heathwall Quay pumping station but following completion of the Tideway Tunnel Project work there is now a continuous path joining Prescott Wharf to Tideway Walk.

The official opening of the Heathwall Quay path was performed yesterday by Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan.

There is also the addition of a viewing platform giving a view immediately upstream of Nine Elms Pier.

The sand dredger Bowbelle was berthed at Nine Elms Pier in August 1989 before moving downstream after dark and being involved in the Marchioness Disaster.

The new path joins Tideway Walk next to the permanently moored Battersea Barge.

An Act of Remembrance for the 51 passengers who died on the night of 20 August 1989 in the Marchioness Disaster will take place at Southwark Cathedral today Wednesday 20 August.

The river collision happened at night between Cannon Street and Southwark Bridges.

The memorial is just inside the door and the annual remembrance will take place shortly after 1pm immediately following the 12.45pm Eucharist.

Enter by way of the courtyard next to the Thames Path.

The coronation of King Athelstan took place in Kingston-upon-Thames on 4 September 925.

He was the first monarch to be crowned rather than wear a helmet and became the first king of all England.

His was the second coronation to be held in the riverside town perhaps due to its location on the border between Wessex and Mercia.

Athelstan was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Athelm.

The 11ooth anniversary is being marked by a walk from Malmesbury, where Athelstan is buried, to Kingston starting today Monday 18 August.

The Mayor of Malmesbury Cllr Stephen James will be walking the 130 miles with around fifty others.

From tomorrow, Tuesday 19 August, the route follows the Thames Path downstream from Lechlade over 11 days.

The arrival is planned for 10.30am on 4 September with the last leg being from nearby Hampton Court.

That day Kingston-upon-Thames will be marking the exact date with seven contemporary life-sized embroidery panels unveiled at 2pm in All Saints Church which is associated with the coronations

This will be followed by an address delivered by historian Tom Holland.

Walking The Thames Path by Leigh Hatts (Cicerone Press) is available direct from the publisher.

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.