Rediscover The River
Last updated: 03/08/2006 - 13:04
The Environment Agency (EA) wants us to go with the flow when it comes to The Thames...
No longer the grim, polluted river of old, the Thames is being pushed as a great place to spend a day out.
This 147-mile stretch of river is missed by many tourists, flowing from the outskirts of London, to its source in the Cotswold Hills. It flows magestically past such sites as the Houses of Parliament, Hampton Court Palace, Runnymede, Windsor Castle, Henley, and Oxford, before meandering through the Cotswolds. It is pastoral countryside - some of England's finest - as described by Jerome K. Jerome in Three Men in a Boat.
The Environment Agency, which manages the waterway, is actively promoting it for the first time. Among the attractions is the Thames Path, a national trail, attracting hundreds of walkers. There are 300 regattas and other river events, annually; plus a wide variety of wildlife; while activities include rowing, canoeing and angling.
Boat trips start from several towns, and self-drive holiday boats can be rented for a day, week or longer. Visitors can even dine in style, as they float along on a cruising restaurant, Rosamund the Fair, based in Oxford.
A special website: www.visitthames.co.uk provides plenty of information about the River Thames, including hiring or registering a boat, going fishing for free on the river, walking the many riverside paths or visiting the numerous event s that spring up along the rivers' course through the year.
For more things to do and places to visit across the country why not visit our 'Travel/Days Out' section?
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