The Thames River is An Artery of Life in Britain!

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London Owes its Appearance to the Thames!

In an imaginative mythology, the River Thames seems to flow from the God's mouth to the Goddess' mouth. It seems also as an elixir that beats its way from a masculine mouth to a feminine mouth where the waters run between the two banks.

However, in reality, the so-called London River decreases while the capital city of Britain grows. London spread to cover 1,579 square kilometres, spilled over into the river, and thus narrowed the race.

The following brief article is about this river. If you have more information about it, you are more than welcomed to add it to this page. I will reward you for your contribution by some invaluable e-books to read for more knowledge or to use and benefit from them.

Thames River, London, England, Britain

As a major river in Britain and from its source on the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire to the North Sea, the Thames is 346 kilometres long. It flows through other cities including Oxford, Windsor and Reading.

The river has shaped and endued the capital city of England through the years. Occupying the heart of the city, it gives it impulses to grow. There are 214 bridges crossing it besides 20 tunnels, 6 ferries and a ford. Among those bridges are the:

Henley Bridge, built in 1786,
Victoria Railway Bridge, built in 1850,
Westminster Bridge, built in 1862,
Blackfriars Bridge, built in 1869,
Albert Bridge, built in 1873,
Blackfriars Railway Bridge, built in 1886,
Battersea Bridge, built in 1890,
Tower Bridge, built in1894,
Vauxhall Bridge, built in 1906,
Southwark Bridge, built in 1921,
Lambeth Bridge, built in 1932,
Chelsea Bridge, built in 1937,
Waterloo Bridge, built in 1945,
London Bridge, built in 1973,
Cannon Street Railway Bridge, built in 1982,
Queen Elizabeth 11 Bridge, built in 1991,
Millennium Bridge, built in 2002.

The British novelist and biographer, Peter Ackroyd with his interests in culture and history and who was born in 5 October 1949 in London wrote in his book, "London: The Biography" in 2000, "Thames has always been a commercial river. The city owes its appearance and its character to it."

The Romans, led at the time by Emperor Claudius built about 2,000 years ago the first settlement on the northern bank of the River Thames in the year 43 AD and called it Londinium.

They chose the beautiful site at that spot because of its location on the river and its proximity to the sea. Ever since that time, the Thames has been the main artery in the city, which became the world's first metropolis and the center of commerce and finance.

Right from the early Middle Ages and up until today, the city has expanded over into the river, involved growing parts of its banks, and thus narrowed the race. However, the river is also a greatest threat to London.

High embankments built through the years along the Thames to protect London against the tide and flood. However, those embankments have not always been sufficiently effective.

London became an effective shield against extreme weather conditions after 1983, when the authorities built the storm surge barrier, the Thames Barrier.

In 2025 however, it is not certain that the Thames Barrier will be able to protect London from flooding, although some environmental experts have anticipated that the city is less vulnerable to any rising in sea level caused by climate change.

If climate change continues, the combination of high tides, hurricanes in the middle latitudes and a general rise in sea levels inundate the current barrier to widespread destruction as a result.

If this happens, large parts of London will be flooded, including parts of the metro system, railway stations, hospitals, thousands of homes and historic areas including both the Parliament at Westminster Palace and the Tower of London.

A flood would have an immediate impact for the 125 million people living in low-lying parts of London. About 340,000 residential and commercial properties may be affected. Just one flood to take over the current Thames Barrier will make inroads into the British economy of an estimated £30 billion.

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