Ebb & Flow

…at some past pictures, as a distraction from more serious matters, and while I’m working on another project.

This really was a brief people-less moment. There are usually queues waiting to have their pictures taken against this world famous backcloth.
*****************************

As many of you know, I spend a fair amount of time by the Thames on Lambeth Reach photographing boats of all sizes. But not just there, and not just boats, as you will see scrolling below…

LE BELLOT was not the largest of cruise ships that I’ve seen passing beneath Tower Bridge but she is surely one of the most elegant.

Adaptable for sightseeing or for parties, the graceful LONDON ROSE adds style to wherever she sails.

The energy of MST workboat PROWLER making waves caught my eye as she powered towards Lambeth Bridge.

The Thames River Police is now known as the Marine Police Unit of the Metropolitan Police. Its officers are available to operate not only along the Thames but along all the marine environments within London. With its fleet of launches “the major role of the MPU today is providing security for Central London. The duties and operations carried out by its officers play a major role in maintaining London’s safety.”, writes Dick Paterson.

The Tower RNLI Lifeboat Station with its two active lifeboats, HURLEY BURLY and HEARN MEDICINE CHEST, in their distinctive orange, is the RNLI’s busiest station in the country.

LFB Fire Rescue vessel TANNER is one of the two state of the art fireboats stationed at Lambeth River Station. She is named after GillianTanner, who was awarded the George Medal for bravery during the Second World War.

And from boats to wildlife…

For a couple of weeks in April 2022, visitors to Victoria Tower Gardens were treated to the joyful sight of a pair of harbour seals playing on one of the Palace of Westminster’s yellow markers. This was a rare sight, even more so as the seals spent a couple of weeks returning here. Much more usual are sightings of the various birds that live in the area, feeding in the gardens and on its foreshore.

One of the many black-headed gulls that spends time along the Thames in winter.

Love the way parent crow, while keeping an eye out, studiously ignores the plaintive squeaking of her offspring.

So often chased and regarded as pests, the small number of pigeons that live in and around Victoria Tower Gardens, are rewarding to watch. With a mixed diet gleaned from lawn and foreshore they seem very healthy. The iridescent green and purple feathers on this couple add to their appeal.

In 2020 my husband and I made friends with a young herring gull that, admittedly after a few snacks, recognised us and used to fly up to the embankment wall where we sat. And, treats over, it would stay on the wall close to us looking relaxed.

We nick-named it Bonzo. Not sure why but it kept us company during our Covid *escape* walks. Sadly, not seen since.

****************
These last few pictures are somewhat random but hopefully you’ll like them…

Just love these two. The St. James’s Park pelicans really own the park, strutting around, perching on benches and flirting with visitors, who soon learn to keep a respectful distance.

We spent many years holidaying in Brittany where you can feel the full force and beauty of the Atlantic.

Watching our plane as it came in to land at Heathrow, accompanied by its rainbow-encircled shadow.

A precious winter view of Victoria Tower Gardens, still under threat from the building of a badly designed Holocaust Memorial, despite being protected as “a public garden in perpetuity” by the London County Council (Improvements) Act 1900. 

Notes and Further Information
Cruise ship LE BELLOT
Viscount cruises’ LONDON ROSE
MST Marine Support Thames: PROWLER
The Marine Policing Unit: TIM RUPRECHT. Article by Dick Paterson.
Tower RNLI vessel HURLEY BURLY
London Fire Brigade rescue vessel TANNER

Seal visiting a palace of Westminster marker.

A new public space close to Blackfriars Bridge, has been created by Tideway as part of their extensive work on London’s ‘Super Sewer’. I followed progress there on and off, somewhat randomly, and took photos as I passed over Blackfriars Bridge, or viewed the site from the opposite side of the river.

Co-ordinated work on the ‘SuperSewer’ began in 2016 “with activity taking place at two dozen construction sites from Acton in west London to Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, east London.”  Over the ten years that the project took to complete, nearly 4000 people with a wide range of skills were able to deliver the project with only a slight delay caused by Covid, which also led to an increase in costs. With allowances made for the massive disruption caused by the pandemic, the enterprise was seen by the press as “a masterclass in bringing a major infrastructure project in on time and within budget.”, APM.

Wal Daly-Smith is just one of the several thousand workers employed by Tideway and has worked at several of the Tideway sites including at Blackfriars, where he was employed as a skipper responsible for crews working on maintenance and safety checks.

The existing Lions head mooring rings that lined the embankment at Blackfriars were carefully removed and restored, then replaced when work at the site was completed, as were the celebrated Vulliamy lampposts.

The building of this new riverside space means that the northern part of the Thames Path has now become fully accessible and a pleasant place to walk or to run.

There are places to sit at several levels and care has been taken to make most of them wheelchair accessible. There is even space at the end of some benches “to allow wheelchair users to sit alongside.”

The clean granite paving, imaginative planting, striking sculptures, and views of river activity make the Bazalgette Embankment a pleasant place to pass the time.

In my next article I will focus on the artwork ….

Sources and further information
The Bazalgette Embankment: Tideway, Opened to public, January 2026.
Cofferdam construction: Tideway Update , September 2020
Cofferdam removal: Tideway Update, October 2022
The Thames Path National Trail