Best of February 2020 : Julia Fullerton-Batten : Old Father Thames

Best of February 2020 : Julia Fullerton-Batten : Old Father Thames

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The River Thames is not even the longest river in the British Isles and a mere pygmy in comparison with many other rivers in the world, yet its significance to British and world history is immense. The river starts as a small trickle in hills to the north west of London and travels for nearly 450 km through the south of England, the centre of London and thence out into
the North Sea via the Thames estuary, passing some of England’s most picturesque towns and villages
on its way.

London is one of the major cities of the world today, but it would not have existed if it were not for the  River Thames passing through it. Just before the Thames reaches London it becomes tidal and formed a natural harbour such that London has been a port since pre-Roman times. Still today, the Thames acts  as an artery of communication and trade route between Britain and the rest of the world.

As a teenager I moved from Germany to live in Oxford on the banks of the River Thames, though the stretch of the river there is called Isis, and the Thames has been a fascination for me ever since. I now live in West London but am still just a short walk from the river. Its constantly changing face with the tide and the seasons, the activities on and around the river are for me compulsive viewing and inspiration. But above all there is the history of the Thames along its entire length with an infinite variety of stories that encompass birth, baptism, death, flooding, sun-bathing on the shore, the story of the ‘Ladies Bridge’, messages in a bottle, riverside scavenging youngsters, prostitution, damaged masterpieces, and countless other whimsical, idiosyncratic and tragic happenings.

I am not alone in my admiration of the glories of the river. Notably, it has been an inspiration to many painters. There are more paintings of the River Thames than I had ever imagined could be possible. Monet painted the river repeatedly. Turner too captured the working river even revealing the early nineteenth century fumes and smoke from the city’s factories and river traffic. Whistler was yet another. In the 1860s and 70s he was drawn to paint the bustling and rapidly changing urban neighbourhoods close to the river. But when one views all these works, it is not at all difficult to understand why they all found it such an attractive, potent subject matter. ...

... Baptism is a very important activity in those faiths immersed in New Testament belief. It is a public affirmation of faith, and is done before a group of people who witness the candidate’s confession of faith in Jesus Christ. It is the rite in the Christian Church by which immersion in water symbolizes the washing away of sins and admission into the Church. For many centuries full immersion baptisms were performed by Baptists in the non-tidal section of the River Thames upstream from London. It was one of the more ancient rituals on the river. Several hundred people would congregate to watch the open-air ceremony. My image was shot in the ancient town of Cricklade in Wiltshire 100 miles distant from London where the ceremony still took place on a space known as Hatchett’s Ford at the beginning of the twentieth century. Even today baptism ceremonies take place along the Thames on personal request ...

... In January 2006, a juvenile female northern bottlenose whale was found swimming in the
River Thames in central London. Approximately five metres long, she weighed about seven tonnes. Her normal habitat would have been on the coast of the far north of Scotland and Northern Ireland, or in the Arctic Ocean.  It was the first time a whale had ever been seen in the River Thames since records began in 1913. Sadly, the whale died the next day from a seizure as she was being rescued. Her skeleton is now exhibited at the Natural History Museum. ...

... This was the name given in the12th Century to a row of ancient tumbledown cottages nestled against the south wall of the churchyard of St Nicholas Church in Chiswick, then a small village on the boundary of London. The street lead to a landing place for a ferry over the River Thames, which was then the only crossing point for miles. The inhabitants of the street were fishermen, watermen, and small traders; their families lived in extreme poverty. Although the street was named ‘Slut’s Hole’, with obvious inferences according to modern-day terminology it is also suggested that the name was derived from the ancient word for ‘sluice’. ...

... The River Thames is a favoured location for internationally renowned boat races, not only the annual University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge but also The Great River Race over 21.6 miles from London Docklands to Ham in Surrey. This race attracts annually several hundred crews from all over the globe. Yachting and rowing clubs line the banks of the river. Every day of the week and especially at weekends yachtsmen and rowers can be seen enjoying their hobby, whatever the weather. ...

... Flooding has occurred along the River Thames for millennia. As the size of London and its population grew, the effects of flooding grew more intense, causing considerable damage to homes, the land, disruption to people’s lives and death. High walls, now called The Embankment, were built along the banks of the river in London in the 18th Century but flooding still occurred. Only when the Thames Barrier became operational in 1982 could the potential for flood waters reaching London be successfully controlled. ...

... Durga Puja is celebrated enthusiastically wherever Bengalis have cast their roots in London and other cities throughout the UK. But, for health and safety considerations Bengalis living in London have only infrequently been permitted to perform the immersion ceremony on the banks of the River Thames. But this year, thanks to the cooperation of the Bengali charity organisation, London Sharad Utsav, and by special permission of the Port of London Authorities, I was able to shoot a recreation of this Bengali ‘bhashaan’ceremony on the banks of the Thames close to Putney Bridge. ...

... With our present concerns about global warming, it may be a surprise to many to learn that the northern hemisphere was in the grip of a ‘Little Ice Age’ between the 17th century and early 19th century. During this period the River Thames froze over in 24 winters. On six occasions beginning in 1608 and ending in 1814, the ice was thick enough for Londoners to set up tents and hold the famous Frost Fairs.

Even back then, it was apparent that the construction of the ‘Old’ London Bridge was a root cause for the build-up of ice as its many narrow arches reduced the flow of water and ice was more prone to form. When the bridge was demolished in 1831 and  replaced by the ‘New’ London Bridge it was built with much wider arches. Combined with other changes made to improve the flow of the river freezing over of the tidal part of the River Thames became a thing of the past and so the Frost Fair of 1814 was the last one Londoners have experienced. ...