Tales from the River

The Thames is Cleaner than Ever

Until well into the 19th century, London's sewers emptied directly into the Thames. Not only did that create a terrible smell culminating in the "Great Stink" of 1858, but it also caused several outbreaks of cholera that killed thousands of people.

Thankfully, today it's a very different story and the Thames is one of the cleanest rivers in Europe.

Strange but True

The water may be clean, but weird and wonderful items are still found on the river bed and washed up on the banks of the Thames.

Chris Coode, River Programmes Manager from the environmental charity Thames21 told us:

"One of my favourite things I keep on my desk. It's a tin of US-Coastguard-approved emergency drinking water from 1955, presumably stored on board ships for emergencies. The oldest item found was a piece of Neolithic pottery. It was old clay with flint chip in it, which, according to the experts, gave it an age of 3,000 - 4,000 years. Pretty commonplace are false teeth and sunglasses, and we've found guns, unexploded shells and - probably most frighteningly - a knuckleduster."

The Thames is a tidal river, rising and falling as much as 8m (26ft) between high and low tides. As such, there's always the possibility of some bizarre but fascinating object being washed up on the foreshore.

Old and New on the River

It's not only the water quality that has changed. The landscape and types of activity on the Thames are very different today than in the past. London was once one of the busiest trading ports in the world, with hundreds of ships and cargos coming into the wharves every day. That gritty industrialised world has now disappeared, to be replaced with a leisure and cultural focus.

Pat Howell, a worker at Tower Bridge for more than 35 years, says:

"The river used to be a real docklands area with barges, ports and dockers all over the place doing their manual work, but now the area and ports have all been turned into restaurants and bars. The river has definitely become more commercialised and modern, most definitely a better place to work now than 30 years ago."

In agreement is Captain Jimmy Howard who has been employed on the river since 1956:

"It's changed so much over the 50 years that I have worked on the river. The Thames was always known as a commercial river but now is viewed as a leisure experience and is the cleanest it has ever been. The views along the Thames have changed with the addition of the luxury apartments and office blocks. It's a real mix of old and new sights - I love it!"

Start Exploring London's Thames

So share the passion for the water! Have a look at our River & Waterways by Area section and start exploring London’s diverse and fascinating river.