Author: Leigh Hatts

The view from the Barnes towpath just upstream of Hammersmith Bridge is of Upper Mall and Furnival Gardens with its old houses known to JWM Turner, HG Wells and Graham Greene. Artists now living there include Sir Peter Blake.

From the rural feel towpath you think that Hammersmith across the water is a small town.

That illusion is under threat from a plan to build 14-storey  blocks inland in King Street. As many as 320 ‘luxury’ flats would loom behind the riverside scene.

Next week there is a protest meeting staged by a group calling itself Save Our Skyline.

To see the effect of the planned development look here.

See page 51.

Those wondering how much longer we shall have to suffer a diversion away from the river and past the Battersea Dogs’ Home on the stretch between Vauxhall and Battersea Bridge will be interested in today’s news.

A planning application has been submitted to Wandsworth Council to continue the path from Elm Quay to Battersea Power Station. The price is five blocks of up to 20 storeys as part of the development.

See page 41.

News just in about the muddled situation on the western side of the Greenwich peninsula.

Darryl’s blog post is here.

See page 16.

The 2011 Good Beer Guide edited by Roger Protz and published by CAMRA (£15.99) is a good guide for those of us who are travellers using pubs for vital refreshment as in days of old.

Those recommended on the River Thames include the White Cross at Richmond and Boaters just before Kingston Bridge.

Near the Thames Path start there is a mention for the Pilot Inn and the Pelton Arms. The latter is on the temporary diversion at the back of Lovell’s Wharf. The 150 year old Dog & Bell at Deptford is rightly described as ‘much loved’. It’s unique.

The Crown Inn at Lechlade, which gets a mention for its Halfpenny Brewery named after the town’s toll bridge, is a good place for bed and breakfast (£45 or £55 double).

Hugo Vickers was at Southwark Cathedral on Sunday morning for the presentation of a seat.

After the Choral Eucharist there was a procession out of the cathedral into the Millennium Courtyard on the north side where Hugo Vickers, chair of the Jubilee Walkway Trust, formally handed over the seat.

The Walkway passing the courtyard gates is also the Thames Path. The seat provides a good spot for walkers to pause and rest or eat sandwiches. Food is available from the Refectory opposite the seat.

After the 1977 Jubilee it was the many walkway signs pointing inland round buildings that help to highlight the lack of a proper riverside path.

The London-SE1 website has a report from the cathedral.

See page 31.

Last night I was at Southwark Cathedral alongside the Thames Path so I missed BBC1’s Countryfile report on the source of the Thames.

I have now watched the programme on the BBC iPlayer. The Thames item is at the beginning of the programme and offers a simple explanation for the often lack of water at the official source.

Sadly the camera did not look downstream from the source to show the indentation in the field but the presenter does walk the dry bed south of the Fosse Way main road. The filming was at the end of last month when water could not be found until Ewen.

We are told that in very dry periods water has not been found until Ashton Keynes.

Watch it here.

See page 211 to 213.

There are plans for an LED video installation on a City bank of the Thames in London.

It is designed to be viewed from Tate Modern on Bankside and would be on all the time except between 1am and 7am.

Only London SE1 has the story so far.

BBC London will be featuring the River Thames this week at 6.30pm on BBC1.

Plans for Enderby’s Wharf to become a cruise liner terminal have been submitted to Greenwich Council.

The early Victorian Enderby House associated with General Gordon would be incorporated into the development but locals are not happy. Nearby Lovell’s Wharf is already closed for  along period.

The best view of the Enderby’s Wharf proposals can be seen on the Docklands 24 site.

See pages 16 and 17.

Looking across from City Hall to the Tower of London at low tide one can wonder about the age of the much-repaired river wall.

Where did the moat enter the Thames up to the 19th century?

The FROG blog has some interesting observations.

See page 29.