www.totheriver.co.uk

The Thames through Richmond at the Millennium

Richmond upon Thames is the only London borough to straddle the Thames. The river winds its way past historic towns and villages and ancient landscapes on its way through London to the sea. Once the only means of transport between these towns and London, its shores were busy with boats of all kinds transporting people and goods between them. With the advent of railways and roads, the Thames became a place of leisure and recreation, and some of its banks were given statutory protection to preserve landscapes and wildlife habitats.

Late in the 20th century the popularity of riverside homes made its banks prey to large-scale housing developments, threatening to destroy the river’s character and fragile ecology as well as the recreational activities that keep the river alive. At the turn of the century the Thames is once more being recognised as the vital asset that it is – vital as a wildlife corridor, as a transport artery, and as a health- and life-giving resource for all Londoners.

The totheriver survey is a record of Richmond’s riverside at the Millennium. It came about as the result of an idea of Cllr Michael Jones, the Mayor of Richmond in 2000, with the collaboration of the Richmond Environmental Centre River Group and the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames, and the skill of website designer John Inglis.

The purpose is to see and remember the built and natural environment of the river’s banks, the public and private buildings, boats and boathouses, wharves, slipways and embankments as well as the trees and lawns, the mud banks and inlets and the flora and fauna that live among them. This will be a benchmark against which future changes to the riverside can be measured. Funded by Awards for All, the first three reaches have been photographed and edited to produce unique panoramas of the three tidal characters of the Thames:

• The non-tidal Thames above Teddington Lock
• The inter-tidal Thames at Eel Pie Island, Twickenham
• The tidal Thames at Mortlake

Two further reaches are currently under construction: Kew and Platts Eyot

If you are interested in volunteering to help research the history and ecology of the Thames in Richmond, please contact the Trust office.