To enjoy the last weekend of the "summer-that-never-was" we decided to visit the Thames Festival for the first time. This 10-year-old event appears to be an initiative of London's mayor, and it's billed as "London biggest end-of-summer party" — with lot's to do between Westminster and Tower Bridge.
Getting to the event by river boat seemed the most appropriate approach, so we set off in good time to catch the regular summer service downriver from Kew Pier. The Thames was at low tide when we arrived and so the descent to the pier was quite steep, but it was a spectacular day and we had great views of this relatively quiet stretch of London's famous river.
Due to the tides, the river boat schedule is somewhat imprecise. So it wasn't terribly surprising when the Henley arrived a few minutes late. As far as I could tell it was completely full of passengers on their way to Kew Gardens for the afternoon, and it occurred to me that there really can't be a better way to get to Kew in the summer. It's a 90 minute journey from Westminster with lots of interesting sites to see along the way, no traffic or public transport to spoil the view, and the wonderful Royal Botanic Gardens to explore at the end. I'm sure that must be one of London's great day-trips for tourists.
Of course on this occasion we were making the opposite journey, which is always going to be less popular. There were only a dozen people waiting to make our trip and it's non-stop all the way to Westminster, so it was like having our own private cruise deep into central London.
Strand on the Green
St George Wharf
Two observations stood out during our journey. The first was the contrast between 19th and 20th century riverside architecture. I'm sure both will have their proponents, but the difference in scale was simply staggering. Compare these two photographs to see what I mean (clicking on either image will take you to a larger version). These buildings are less than seven miles apart as the crow flies, but they're light years apart in terms of size and style. From our perspective on the river, one seemed liveable; the other a monster. The irony is that the developers of St George Wharf will no doubt be marketing their apartments as exclusive properties ("pre-qualified registered buyers only"), while in reality it's the 19th century riverside home that is truly rare.
The second observation was the lack of almost all heavy industry on the river. Signs of it's demise were many and varied, but we saw very few operational wharves or riverside factories at all during our journey downstream. The Thames has become a river for pleasure and recreation.
The Thames Festival itself was a disappointment; a victim of its own success. Way too many people all trying to squeeze along the south bank Thames path. We ate lunch standing up, my daughter made a pumpkin hat (?), and we left — this time returning by the good, old District Line.
