Author: Leigh Hatts

This week’s Swan Upping, the annual census of the mute swan population on the River Thames, has been cancelled due to severe flood conditions on the River Thames.

The bridleway entry to Hartslock Wood near Whitchurch-on-Thames is going to be repaired and improved this summer.

The flight of steps is to be replaced and the surface at the side for horses and bicycles improved.

The path here is deep and narrow on the only section of the Thames Path which goes up a hill.

The work will take place from the end of July and should be completed by Friday 10 August. There are no diversions.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh travelled on board the Alaska, built in 1883 and the oldest working passenger steamer on the Thames, from Hambleden Lock to Greenlands for a garden party. The towpath was crowded.

ITV News has  a report.

The riverside path between the Founders Arms and Blackfriars Bridges with its new station entrance is slowly emerging as barriers are cleared.

We can now see how it will look. The Olympic decorations are up already.

It was interesting to see Bob Tough’s obituary in The Daily Telegraph on the eve of the Jubilee weekend.

His boatyard at Teddington, now largely built over, was where the Havengore and Royal Nore vessels were built. He helped to design them and both took part in the Thames Pageant.

The obituary reminds us that he was a sixth generation boatbuilder.

The Bablock Hythe ferry which is said to be over a thousand years old may run again soon.

It had several revivals in the 20th century including 1981 and again briefly in 1992.

It has long been operated by the pub which has had at least three names in living memory. Today the landlord of the Ferryman Inn is Peter Kelland.

He has been asked by Oxfordshire County Council if he will start it up again. The council has even revived the much opposed idea of a bridge in its Local Transport Plan. But the missing link could be part of Sustrans cycle route 57 which would provide an income stream.

The planned ticket price is 50p and the ferry could be running again this year.

Indeed if the ferry is reliable then most Thames path walkers would probably prefer to stay on the towpath and use the ancient crossing. Today’s official alternative is to cross upstream at Pinkhill Lock and have a long walk inland.

Peter is appealing for help in raising the £9,000 needed to restore the boat damaged in the 2007 floods.

The Ferry Inn also offers bed and breakfast (01865 880028).

Plans to allow walkers to cross Deptford Creek nearer to the Thames than the main road bridge are now available for consultation.

There is the big Diamond Jubilee event on the Thames in central London this Sunday 3 June 2012.

Upstream the Jubilee is being celebrated at Abingdon with an old custom at 6pm.

Buns will be thrown from the roof of County Hall in a custom dating back to at least 1761 when George III’s coronation was marked in this manner.

Last year it took just over 20 minutes for the Mayor of Abingdon and councillors to throw 4000 buns on Prince William’s wedding day.

Next Sunday there are even more buns – 6,000 or 100 for every year of the Queen’s reign.

The Throwing Buns cafe in Market Place is named after the tradition and is a good place to end or start a walk.

Thanks to old friend and Thames expert Dieter Jebens I have been enjoying a new book about the Thames Path.

Novelist Beverley Hansford has written an account of walking the Thames Path end to end. The name is a pseudonym which is confusing because the author, real name Gordon, walked with his wife Joanna who gets an occasional mention.

They walk downstream and constantly express amazement at how many walkers are going the other way.

I have always thought that the Thames was so famous that it is best to walk from London, which we all know, to find out where the river comes from.

But it is interesting to read Gordon’s reaction to places and their experiences of doing the walk in stages using public transport to and from home each time -no overnight stays.

In London he chooses, rightly in my view, the south bank as the better route. The north side alternative was a last minute idea of the Countryside Commission. The south side, or right bank, has fewer roads with heavy traffic and of course the towpath west of Putney. He agrees that it is rural route well into the capital.

Beverley Hansford’s Thames book is With Rucksack and Bus Pass.

The novel, which I have yet to read, is called Julie.

We are often warned about the danger of jumping off Magdalen Bridge into the Cherwell on May Day.

The Thames can be just as dangerous in Oxford as the news of a death last night reminds us.

The Oxford Mail report includes some good advice from the police.

There are more pictures here.