The Thames

I went for a walk along the Thames in the 31 degree heat today. Three pubs and plenty of shade with an old work colleague. Very moderate drinking and lots of water. Still got very hot. 

These boats are moored just along from Tower Bridge. Love the balconies and colours. They don’t look like any traditional Thames boat I’ve seen although I could be wrong. 

For some reason I was reminded of the Princess Alice disaster of 1878 when a Victorian pleasure boat of that name was struck by another vessel on the Thames and at least 640 people died. This happened downriver at Galleon’s Reach. The pilot of the other boat (the Bywell Castle) had my family name (which is not common) and there is some speculation that he was a relative of ours, but this has never been investigated.  A board of trade enquiry exonerated him from blame but the accident led to clearer rules being put in place for what until then had been at least in part governed by custom and practice.

This stretch of river is rich in history. I never tire of walking it.