Overview

Viewing the British Isles as an archipelago, scattered at the end of a peninsula of Asia, and the Thames as a fairly minor tributary of the Rhine does not justify effort in recording anything associated with a few miles of the length of this waterway. But the Thames, which was pushed by glaciation into its present valley some 350,000 years ago, does happen to have peculiar significance to 'The English Speaking Peoples' and there are a lot of them about at the moment. The idea of 'Old Father Thames' may have been in place when an excessive number of fine stone axes fell to the bottom of the river 6-7,000 years ago. These axes are often worked from material found in deposits hundreds of miles distant. Fairly certainly some at least splashed down during religious rituals venerating the river.

It happens that, excepting the fact that Londinium was the largest Roman city in Northern Europe, London has been over-promoted as the centre for government, trade and culture in England for the past 1,000 and particularly the last 500 years. That promotion was effected by the congruence of: the nub of government which was the royal court settled in palaces from Greenwich to Windsor; and the merchants (English, Flemish and Italian particularly) who melded the requirements of importers, exporters and financiers. The lives, happenings, structures and surrounding bric-a-brac of those governors and traders and their servants, underlings, entertainers, hangers-on and the motley about them is the main subject matter of this site.

Associating the subject matter with specific locations on the ground very seldom has a logical justification. As an example: the philosopher and statesman Sir Francis Bacon and Sir John Hawkins an editor of Sir Isaac Walton's 'The Compleat Angler' happened to both live, separated by some 150 years, in a house on the same site. It may have been substantially the same house. Associating them by the same reference as this site does, is a convention which has been adopted only because it is thought that you might like to know whose eyes have looked at this stretch of the river particularly if you are, have or would like to look at it as well.

The coverage of the site is arbitrarily and inexactly limited to one mile from the edge of the river for the 46 miles that it flows between the lock immediately above Windsor and the Pool of London which is just downstream from Tower Bridge. The information presented in this version of the site, for the section between the the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kingston-on-Thames, will hopefully give you some entertainment as well as an indication of what is intended for the whole. Contributions are invited from anyone who may be interested. Organisations which may represent groups of people likely to have such an interest are being contacted to promote this arrangement. Some of those organisations are listed here with detail that can help you to get in touch with them if you think it likely that you share their interests.

It is not intended to present items which have commercial links. At this date, following the loading of information about the Westminster to Putney sector, the major intention for the enhancement of the site is to provide some linkage to pictures of the people, places and events described.

When you have had a look round, or at any other time for that matter, we would be delighted to hear any comments, criticisms, corrections or suggestions for additions or deletions. In fact we will just be pleased to know that you are there. So, do mail us at r.fast.jr@lineone.net.