Walkers on the Thames path this morning may see much activity between Staines and Walton-on-Thames as the search continues for two men missing following an accident on the water.
Reports say that six passengers were being taken by ferry from Pharaoh’s Island to the Shepperton bank at about 7.30pm last night when the boat capsized. Only four, three women and a man, are accounted for.
As always on these occasions one remembers that the Thames can be a dangerous place.
See page 72.
Wallingford Bridge is closed following problems with a burst water main caused by the cold weather.
The bridge structure is being checked.
The Thames Path does not cross the bridge but the closure is affecting Thames Travel Buses.
See page 146.
It sounds like a re-announcement but it was confirmed this week that work starts in January on the new Walton Bridge.
A new bridge has been about to be built for years but the government now claims that the new crossing can open in 2013.
It will be built immediately upstream so the existing bridge, really two temporary bridges, can remain throughout the work.
See page 70.
Henley Town Council has voted to back the closure of the towpath for ten days in July for the Royal Regatta.
The problem here is that the closure gets longer every year. Diverting a national trail for an event is unusual.
The final decision will be taken by Wokingham District Council in February.
Jubilee Greenway markers are appearing in the ground on the first twenty miles of the Thames Path.
Indeed they start a little downstream of the Thames Barrier at Woolwich Ferry.
People were talking about them at Southwark Cathedral last weekend having seen one outside.
The Jubilee Greenway is inspired by the Silver Jubilee Walkway so the markers are decorated with a version of the 1977 Jubilee logo. The route leads to and from the Olympic Park where the original Greenway running along the top of a sewage pipe is found.
There is much excitement about new markers in Rotherhithe where the new trail (and Thames Path) at King’s Stairs would be obliterated if Thames Water’s plans for a workstation are approved.
Sunday night’s Countryfile on BBC1 had some film of Matt Baker canoeing on the river at Pangbourne.
It included some brief of upstream Child Beale Wildlife Park which walkers miss as the Thames Path makes a rare detour up a hill and through Hartslock Wood.
The programme always breaks up its reports so we had to wait to see the film of Matt at “the only working flour mill on the Thames” at Mapledurham before he boarded the African Queen floating hotel.
See pages 131-133.
It’s interesting to learn that Kate Middleton’s parents Carole and Michael were married at Dorney Church. The reception was at Dorney Court which since has doubled for Syon in the film Lady Jane.
Prince William’s great, great grandparents were married in 1881 at tiny Petersham Church near Richmond.
This would be perfect for Kate and William if they could get away with a quiet wedding. But it looks as if they will marry at Westminster Abbey which once stood on Thorney Island surrounded by the tidal Thames.
See pages 60 and 94.
Kate Middleton is in the headlines as she becomes engaged to Prince William but news that she went to school in Pangbourne is not what it seems. St Andrew’s School is some way south-west of the Thames-side village.
However, besides the royal story in tonight’s Evening Standard is the announcement that a Roman village has been discovered in Syon Park. This shows how the site was a strategic one and near a crossing. Only a few years ago another dig found the base of a church as a large as a cathedral east of the main house.
The Daily Mail also has more details and a map.
See page 57.
Today is the bicentenary of painter Johann Zoffany’s death.
He lived and died at Strand-on-the-Green where the riverside house is marked with a blue plaque. He is buried on the south side of St Anne’s Church on nearby Kew Green across the river.
See pages 54 and 55.