The Tide Is In

The Thames, dating back 600,000 years when it was a tributory of the Rhine in GD, is today tidal to the Teddington Lock from the North Sea or about 90km inland.

From there, the river wanders anothr 250km eventually passing Oxford and ending at the village Kembel. At one point, the river was seven miles wide covering the Thames Valley, and today flooding is prevented by the Thames Barrier constructed in the 1980s.

Famously the 'Great Stink' of 1858 emptied the House of Commons, which had to be abandoned until the river was adequately cleaned up. This photo of the kids taken on the Thames Path at Kew (10/06/05)