River Thames

1. The River Thames travels from source, a spring called Thameshead in the Cotswold Hills, 215 miles to the North Sea.

2. It joins the North Sea in Shoeburyness, Essex.

3. The River Thames is the best known river in England, but not the longest, which is the River Severn.

4. The River Thames is small in comparison with other world rivers.

5. It is slow and meandering for most of its length.

6. It has forty-seven locks.

7. The River Thames flows through the centre of London and has played a major role in British history.

8. Its own history goes back thirty million years when it was a tributary of the River Rhine.

9. During the Ice Age the River Thames changed its course.

10. The Thames Valley has been inhabited for the past 400,000 years.

11. The River Thames offers protection, transport, water for domestic purposes, power for industry, fertile land and food.

12. The Romans came to the site of London.

13. They made the River Thames as an international port by building wharves, mills and London Bridge.

14. Many beautiful buildings and historic sites adorn the banks of the river such as abbeys and royal palaces.

15. The River Thames often froze in winter due to the water being slowed down by the pillars of old London Bridge.

16. The earliest recorded occasion was in AD1150.

17. Frost fairs were held on the river with ox-roasting, entertainment, musicians and stalls, the last one being in 1814.

18. The Port of London was central trading post for the British Empire and many docks and riverside wharves were built.

19. In Victorian times the river turned into a vast, stinking sewer, as waste and effluent was discharged into it.

20. The fishing industry died, as did thousands of Londoners, from cholera or typhoid, as their water source was polluted.

21. The River Thames became a source of pleasure in late Victorian times with punting, boat hire and regattas.

22. Fifty years ago, it was so polluted it was declared biologically dead.

23. In the 1960s great attempts were made to clean up the River Thames.

24. Now the river is the cleanest river flowing through a major city in the entire world.

25. The countryside by the River Thames is mostly rolling hills and farmland, until London when it becomes urbanised.

26. The River Thames is a tidal river so its water levels are affected by the tide.

27. There is a seven metre difference between high tide and low tide at London Bridge.

28. Tides from the sea flooded the low lying areas of the River Thames and in 1953 three hundred people died

29. The Thames Flood Barrier, which is 520 metres wide, was built as a tidal barrier.

30. It cost £535 million.

31. The river forms great tourist attraction as well as providing an alternative form of transport for commuters.