Tree in the river

A large tree that used to be on the edge of the river has fallen in to it. This is just on the Kingston side of the border, alongside Royal Park Gate.

SOLAR sign

Save Our Lands and River (SOLAR) have been campaigning against Thames Water's TDRA (Teddington Direct River Abstraction) scheme for a couple of years and have organised and participated in many events to spread their message. This sign comes from their latest one.

Different waters

The turbulent waters racing over the weir are in stark contrast to the almost still waters on the approach to the lock.

Teddington Lock in context

I took this picture to capture the delightful jumble of the maintenance works at Teddington Lock and was pleased to also get the equally delightful jumble of the Wharf development behind it and the still reflective river in front.

Clearing a raft

The raft that arrived at the moorings by Teddington Lock late last year has been moved to the other side of the bridge where it is being cleared piece by piece.

Very high tide

I have seen many high tides at Teddington Lock, and elsewhere locally, but never quite as high as this one. Previously I have seen the water on either side of the weir at the same height but this time the water was visibly flowing upstream over the weir at some pace.

Busy lock

Teddington Lock is a busy scene at the moment due to all the work going on around Launch Lock and it was made even busier by the passing of a large boat through Barge Lock.

Lock maintenence

Given how relatively unimportant waterways are now and how little traffic goes through Teddington Lock, I am surprised at how often major maintenance works has to be done there.

Whatever they are doing here seems to be slightly upstream of the lock gates and is blocking access to the Launch and Skiff Locks.

High waters

The river has been high for long periods recently and elsewhere (e.g. Mortlake) I have had to take detours when walking along Thames Path. Locally the best place to observe the swollen river has been Teddington Footbridge.

The most obvious sign of the height of the water is that the Skiff Lock (on the far left) has all but disappeared under the water.

On the Teggigton side the water has crept up toward The Anglers making the bridge look even more impressive than usual.

Fenced off

While the view of the footbridge is excelent from the lower path further on, at this point the view is spoilt by a long stretch of temporary fencing.

Dead boat

The still water this side of the weir reflects the upturned boat to make it look like a fantastical creature.

HIgh tide by Ham Street

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It was all down to luck, I stopped checking the tide tables some years ago, that I arrived at the end of Ham Street as the water ws lapping up againgst the towpath. I suspect that it had been a little higher just before that and the path may even have been impassible, as it always is with a high tide.

The view looks natural enough but anyone familiar with the area, which is almost everyone in Ham, will realise that the high river has claimed a lot of land and a large concrete structure.

 

Looking the other way, downstream, The trees look dramatically out of place surrounded by water.

 

And to show just how far the water had come in, the emergency throwbag was out of range and so of little use.

Red skies at night

I do not usually post pictures like this because the views are fleeting and so you cannot go out and see what I have posted for yourself. However, that is my rule so I am entitles to break it which I am happy to do for an evening sky as dramatic as this one.

Royal Barge Gloriana

There was something of a crowd clustered around the Lock and on the Footbridge to watch the passing of Royal Barge Gloriana on Saturday 11 June, presumably to its home in St Katherine's Dock following some jubilee related activities upstream.

There had been talk of its permanent home being in Richmond or Kingston but it seems to be going to one of the many new riverside developments around the Greenwich Peninsular.

Do not swim or jump

One of the features of the summer, when it has been sunny, has been the large numbers of people swimming in The Thames, particularly on and around the island at Teddington Lock. Richmond Council  has responded by installing some large signs telling people not to swim or jump.

Wet

There has been a lot of water around this Winter causing the river to hit some noticeable highs. Anyone who uses Teddington Footbridge regularly, and that is a lot of people, will be aware of the normal water levels on the Teddington bank outside The Anglers and on this crossing the water was so high that several familiar landmarks were engulfed by the river.

Battling the river

The trees along the water's edge fight a constant battle with the water that rises twice a day to claim the land around them. A compromised is reached and some of the trees make their homes in the river. It seems to work.

By the Lock

I love the area around Teddington Lock for all sorts of reasons. One of them is the water rushing over the weir.

Another reason is the industrial feel to the Lock. There seems to be work going on there all the time, which make sense for such an old mechanical machine; it was just the same when I worked at a coal-fired power station.

Frosty morning

I walk along the towpath most mornings, either to go to work or just for fun, and it always looks good. Sometimes it looks exceptional.

More cutting back along the towpath

It was a foggy day in October when taking my usual walk to work that I was struck by the cutting back of the trees and bushes along the towpath opposite Burnell Avenue. There had been cutbacks along there before but not to this extent.

The Border Stone stands exposed when only a few weeks earlier I was standing next to it sheltering from the rain under a tree.

I can see the argument for exposing the river but I preferred it when coming across the weir was always a surprise and the first warning that it was there came from the noise it makes.

Work was in progress on the other side of the towpath too and the debris on the ground shows just how much of the vegetation was being removed.

While I can see an argument for exposing the river surely there is no sensible reason for making the ramshackle houses on Burnell Avenue more visible.