Category: Updates

The 2024 Blessing the River from London Bridge will be on Sunday 14 January at 12.15pm.

This year’s slightly later date is due to The Epiphany (6 January) falling at a weekend resulting in church calendars moving ‘Twelfth Night’ on a day to Sunday 7 January. This displaced the Baptism of Christ Sunday which is the usual blessing of river day.

Next Sunday 14 January processions will set out simultaneously shortly before 12.30pm from Southwark Cathedral on the south bank and St Magnus the Martyr Church in the City to the north.

Charles Dickens had these two churches in mind when he wrote ‘the tower of old Saint Saviour’s Church, and the spire of Saint Magnus, so long the giant-warders of the ancient bridge’.

The stone London Bridge begun in 1176 was dedicated to St Thomas Becket and had a chapel in the middle of the downstream side. The pavement ran under the tower of St Magnus.

Prayers will be offered for those working on the river.

Pulhams Coaches is now operating a route 64 between Swindon and Lechlade.

This is the restoration of a bus service used by walkers in the past.

There are four buses out of Swindon and three from Lechlade daily except Sundays.

The timetable shows a bus arriving in Lechlade at 9.31am which could be handy for those travelling by train to Swindon on a Saturday. The last bus from Lechlade is at 4.51pm.

The new route is featured with the timetable in Bus And Train User.

Choral Evensong comes live on BBC Radio 3 this Wednesday 4 October from Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College Chapel.

If you are passing on the Thames Path and wish to attend you should be seated by 3.45pm for the 4pm start.

The service, sung by the chapel choir, is led by the Revd Stephen Stavrou, vicar of upstream St Michael & All Angels church by Barnes Bridge.

The Benson Ferry (Benson Lock to Benson Waterfront) is at present running daily 9.30am to 6pm.

Upstream walkers should cross the downstream lock gate and bear left past the lock cottage for the ferry point. The wait is usually about 15 minutes at most.

One way fare: £2

Dogs allowed.

Further updates will appear on Benson Ferry Facebook.

The ferry link is the alternative to the official diversion on road from Wallingford to Benson whilst the weir crossing at Benson Lock remains closed.

A long line has been added to the UBR stone on Putney Embankment.

The University Boat Race starting post has been moved slightly forward to allow for a large viewing platform to be built behind.

The starting line runs across the new land reclaimed from the Thames as a result of the Thames Tideway, or Super Sewer, project.

The new space running out into the water includes a ventilation column disguised as a tall sculpture.

The next University Boat Race is on Easter weekend Saturday 30 March.

There is a similar UBR stone on Thames Bank at Mortlake marking the finishing line.

The Great Globe made at Greenwich and now at Durlston Head in Dorset has been steamed cleaned for the first time.

The cleaning of the Portland stone carving was undertaken by stonemason Ian Viney.

Pictures of the Great Globe looking as new as when it stood by the Thames in 1887 have been published by Swanage News.

The large stone globe, ten feet in diameter, was the idea of stone merchant George Burt of Swanage whose London base was Granite Wharf on the Greenwich Peninsula. Purbeck stone, which had been loaded at Swanage, was unloaded on Granite Wharf.

The fifteen segment globe would have been welcome ballast for a return journey.

Earlier Burt’s uncle George Mowlem, who was also from Swanage, built many of London’s Victorian buildings with the stone.

Granite Wharf on Greenwich Peninsula was recently replaced by flats but a plaque on the Thames Path recalls the many spare stones which 0nce formed a boundary wall.

Durlston is near Swanage and the Great Globe is displayed below Durlston Castle which in summer has been likened to the Amalfi coastline.

The Waverley paddle steamer has arrived at Swanage on her way to London.

She will be coming up the River Thames on Saturday evening 23 September.

An unexpected easterly wind prevented a planned berthing at Poole Quay last night but today in perfect weather the steamer moored at Swanage Pier.

There she was opposite the Wellington Tower which used to stand in the middle of the road on the south end of London Bridge.

Later this month the Waverley will turn immediately downstream of London Bridge.

The tower was originally a clock tower but when moved to Swanage in 1867 it arrived without its clock. The spire was lost in 1904.

Transportation from the capital was untaken by George Burt who shipped Purbeck stone from Swanage to Granite Wharf on the Greenwich Peninsula. For return trips he needed ballast and the dismantled Wellington Tower, which had proved unpopular with increased horse-drawn traffic on the bridge, was ideal.

Tuesday 4 July is the 400th anniversary of the death of composer William Byrd.

His music is often heard in churches today and will be at Westminster Cathedral on his anniversary but both its survival and his are remarkable since he was very sympathetic to Roman Catholics.

It was fortunate that Queen Elizabeth appreciated his work and liked music in church more than some of her zealous Protestant subjects.

In 1586 William Byrd joined a secret gathering at Harleyford Manor on the Thames opposite Hurley.

Today’s mansion is 18th-century but it was in the earlier house that he attended the Catholic spiritual retreat where his music was performed liturgically thanks to the house having an organ and a volunteer choir of women.

Those present included the now saint Robert Southwell, Shakespeare’s schoolfriend Robert Dibdale and future Gunpowder plot suspect Henry Garnett.

The closure of the Thames Path across Benson Weir has resulted in a diversion to the left bank and away from the water between Wallingford Bridge and Benson.

FERRY

When earlier this month Clare Balding walked out of Wallingford for her BBC Radio 4 Ramblings programme she had to follow the road diversion as far as Benson.

The path across the weir has been closed for safety reasons and repair has yet to be undertaken.

The good news is that now a ferry runs from Benson Lock Island to the slipway next to Benson Waterfront cafe.

Walkers should cross the downstream lock gate and bear left past the lock cottage before phoning the boatyard: 07375 677823. Fare £2.

The plan is to run the ferry daily 9am-5pm whilst there are enough volunteers available to maintain the service.

The advantage of the ferry is that the walker can stay on the Thames Path out of Wallingford. Here it has a good surface and at this time of the year is a delight as it runs alongside the sea of buttercups in the Queen’s Arbour and King’s Meadow below the castle.

When the ferry is not running a notice is posted outside the Boat House pub next to Wallingford Bridge.

OFFICIAL DIVERSION

The official diversion is on roads but has interesting landmarks.

Cross Wallingford Bridge to Crowmarsh Gifford and continue ahead along The Street. Pass the campsite (right) and Crowmarsh Gifford’s church (left; closed due to ceiling collapse) to walk as far as The Queen’s Head (right).

Here turn left into Benson Lane keeping to the pavement on the left. The road passes the Institute of Hydrology in Howbery Park.

At the lodge entrance to the Park you may enter to visit the cafe in the manor house. (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm). The mansion was built by William Seymour Blackstone (1809–1881), grandson of the famous lawyer William Blackstone who lived in Wallingford. His grandson, finding his grandfather’s house Castle Priory too small, built this stately home across the river but the task bankrupted him and he went to prison instead of moving in.

On meeting the main road bear left with the footpath as it joins the major road. There may be a smell from the nearby sewage works.

Turn left at the first junction into a lane leading to Preston Crowmarsh. At the once moated Crowmarsh Battle Farm the road turns sharp right. There are scattered cottages, some thatched, on approaching the end of the diversion.

Ferry Cottage (left) is a reminder of the ferry which once operated below the weir. The regular service ended during the First World War when the ferryman enlisted and never returned.

Soon there is a view of the mill island (left) before passing the point where the Thames Path joins from the weir (left). Continue ahead to find the gate (left) leading into Benson Waterfront.

Temple Bridge, a vital link upstream of Marlow, has suddenly been closed following an inspection by the Environment Agency.

Part of the structure is deemed to be unsafe and the closure is expected to continue all summer.

Also closed are the crossing at Benson and timber towpath at Henley’s Marsh Lock which suggests that after more than 25 years the trail’s infrastructure may need reviewing.

In the early 1970s, long before Temple Bridge had been built, the Harleyford Estate on the left (north) bank considered reopening the ancient Temple ferry which had closed in 1953. However, a revived ferry was thought to be viable only in summer months.

Last week there was a new local call for the return of the ferry.

Another suggestion forty years ago was to allow walkers to cross on the Temple Lock weir which reaches the south (right) bank at Temple Mill Island. The houses had yet to be built and it was thought that future island residents might wish to be able to cross the river and walk into Marlow.

Temple Bridge, a 267 foot West African hardwood span, was completed in 1989 -seven years before the Thames Path was officially opened.

DIVERSION

The temporary diversion from Marlow is across Marlow Bridge and ahead on the main Bisham Road. There is a pavement on the right hand side.

This unexpected and slightly unpleasant diversion does give an opportunity to visit the churchyard of Bisham Church which is usually only seen as part of an attractive view from across the water.

To visit the church (which may not always be open but has lots of riverside seats) turn right after a mile, by an oak tree on a bend, to go down Church Lane. The great attraction is the memorial to the family of Sir Philip Hoby of Bisham Abbey whose body was brought by water from his London house at Blackfriars in 1558. See message below from the churchwarden.

Continue past the Church Lane turning as the main road still with a pavement becomes Marlow Road. Walk through Bisham village, with The Bull at its centre, and having passed the entrance to Bisham Abbey (right) immediately bear right into Temple Lane.

There is double bend round the grounds of the Abbey and before the lane passes the Temple Island entrance (right).

Keep ahead and where the row of cottages (right) ends go through the gate to the left of the entrance to Temple Weir House ahead.

The footpath follows a curving wall before passing through a tunnel.

Go ahead on the wide metalled road. Soon after passing the entrance to Temple House (right) the wide way loses its hard surface and shortly runs up against gates.

Go through the small gate to pass The Old Dairy (left) and at once go right through a kissing gate. Follow the straight path leading to the river. Temple Bridge is to the right. But go left to continue the walk to Henley.

BISHAM CHURCH

Church Warden Stewart Featherstone-Clark writes: All Saints Bisham Church is nestled between the river and the old turnpike, the route of the Marlow flyer to London until it closed in 1888. Take a moment off your route to go down and sit by the river in the tranquil churchyard. Dating from the C12 with a Norman chalk tower. The church was the place of worship for the Abbey family. The Bisham estate saw the Knights Templar and the Earls of Salisbury and was part of Ann of Cleves divorce settlement from Henry VIII. The heyday was in the 1500s with the Hoby family, here for 200 years then the Vansittarts for another 200. Discover a treasure trove of court and political influence in the spectacular monuments which tell their tales.

Contrast with the modern industrial copper of the Williams Chapel, another story. Bisham was the place to be, so why not visit? (Yes it is in the Simon Jenkins book of 1000 best churches). Contact the warden before your visit to ensure the church is open (www.achurchnearyou.com). Go to www.bishamchurchfriends.org to find out more or to join one of our tours.