Ebb & Flow

A unifying thread the length of the River Thames, Wendy Tobitt,
with nearly 6,000 followers on Twitter-X, brings together those who both love and care for the river. She highlights volunteering events, the installation of fingerposts, clearing of paths, all kinds of boating activities, and the rich variety of nature. She passes on warnings of flooding, and features the many photographers capturing scenes of the river from source to sea.

But this is not her only contribution to the River Thames. Her work with the Thames Path National Trail has brought her to greater prominence. It began in 2018 on her retirement from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust communications team, when she started volunteering with the Thames Path National Trail. In 2019 she took on the management of their social media accounts to promote the Thames Path more widely. Wendy says: “I feel very lucky to be looking after these accounts and to see the beautiful photographs and comments that people post during their walks along the riverside.”

Another of the pleasures of Wendy’s involvement with the National Trail is meeting and talking with the many people she meets who regularly walk or run along the Thames Path.

Wendy’s journalistic and PR experience stands her in good stead too. Her long and impressive career, beginning as a journalist in the 1970s with local Berkshire and Oxfordshire newspapers, was followed by positions in the press offices of the Thames Valley Police; the BBC, publicising local radio stations and as part of a team bringing Pudsey Bear to Children in Need; and in 1990, a role in communications and public affairs for one of British Rail’s passenger businesses. From then she worked independently in management consultancy until 2000 when she had the chance to return to her first love: public relations, working as a freelance for organisations close to her heart. All of them including Natural England; the North Wessex Downs National Landscape; and the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust; having a bearing on her work for and love of, the river Thames, eventually leading to her position as Chair of the Thames Path Partnership.

The Thames Path Partnership
is an overarching group involving all the highway authorities between the source of the River Thames in Gloucestershire and Greenwich; the Environment Agency; Port of London Authority, River Thames Society and others. Wendy explains:
“We meet online twice a year to discuss the main issues such as forced diversions because of closed footbridges, severe erosion caused by flooding after heavy rainfall, and improvements to access the River Thames, ensuring the Thames Path meets the high-quality standards of a National Trail.” And emphasising the point she adds: “It’s important for all these partners to recognise the significance of the Thames Path National Trail. It’s the only Source to Sea route in the UK and the only National Trail running through the great cities of Oxford and London.” And now, after it was extended to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel and linked to the England Coast Path, it is 232 miles long.

The River Thames has been a constant for Wendy Tobitt throughout her life. “As a child growing up in Maidenhead I remember picnics beside the River Thames and taking a rowing boat out for Sunday afternoons. We had friends in Cookham and Hurley, so I got to know the river in those villages.” But she came to know much more.

“I’ve lived near the Thames in Twyford, Pangbourne and Oxford, and always walked beside the river whenever possible. When I was looking for my latest home, in Wallingford, I made sure to be only a few minutes’ walk to the Thames.”

Wendy says: “Whenever I’m beside the Thames there’s always a different view, and something interesting to see and hear.” She appreciates the different seasons, and the changing character of the river as it flows through town and country.
Ever championing her cause, and encouraging others, she adds “Walking on the Thames Path is definitely the best way to enjoy those changing views across and along the River Thames.” I, among her many followers, second that.

Further information
Discover The Thames Path National Trail.
You can discover Wendy Tobitt on social media including: Facebook; Instagram; and Bluesky @thamespathnt.bsky.social; as well as @ThamesPathNT and @12beesbuzzing on Twitter-X
You can see John Tippetts’ photography and records of his Thames walks here: https://www.mythames.co.uk

Depending on the movement and strength of tides, phases of the moon, and the weather, the shoreline below Victoria Tower Gardens is in constant evolution.

The beach is flooded with each tide but once the water has ebbed sufficiently, a small, pristine, sandy section of the foreshore is revealed. The rest is covered in empty shells, stones of various sizes, bricks and other remains of the warehouses and jetties that stood until the gradual creation of what is now Victoria Tower Gardens at the end of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth century. The pattern of the heavier elements changes frequently and the rubble on the beach can be an apparent jumble or appear to be ordered in lines.

Sadly, at times there is also a certain amount of rubbish, though nothing on the scale of the notorious wet wipe *island* near Barnes.

For the first time, I saw a curious structure revealed by the very low tide on December 18, 2024, whose purpose is a mystery.

Flood Forecaster, Alan, told me that this exceptionally low tide was caused by “a low pressure to the north of Scotland that as it moved further north, dragged the water away from us and so created a large negative surge of nearly 1m at low tide at Southend and around 0.7m at Tower Pier.” December 18th last year was the lowest tide I have seen.

The mudlarks who come to the Victoria Tower Gardens’ foreshore have sharp eyes and the experience, to spot fragments and artefacts exposed or brought in by the latest tide and, according to the rules of their Port of London Authority permits, they must report all finds of 300 years old or more to the London Museum.

Each wave brings more food for the pigeons, crows, and gulls, that line up to peck at the foreshore whenever the beach is exposed.

Kayakers often pass by briefly on their regular trips but last summer a group made a meal of it, enjoying their picnic on a warm, sunny day.

Five years ago I spotted this team of castle builders working on the foreshore. A nearby parent was keeping a close eye both on them and the approaching tide, hopefully they returned home unscathed.

As the country went into lockdown in April 2020, almost all river traffic ceased. On twenty-four hour duty as always, were Police launches, Fire Safety boats, Port of London vessels, and the RNLI, either on patrol or responding when needed. The operation of Cory tugs towing their waste barges out of London carried on as normal right from the outset but for a short while all other river traffic ceased, which meant that in this early period less mud was stirred from the river bed than usual and you could see further into the water.

At any time, including during the Covid lockdowns, dogs are occasionally taken for walks on the beach.

End Notes
Port of London tidal information
Follow the Thames Barrier on Twitter-X @AlanBarrierEA