Thames Day 3: Thames Barrier...

It was exciting when we caught our first glimpse of the Thames Barrier, the end point of the Thames Path. Frankly, I must admit that before Kent and Carlin’s invite, I’d never heard of the Thames Barrier and I had no idea what to expect as we approached it.

Before getting there, we still had some unusual art to pass...

...as well as a cement factory at Angerstein Wharf.

Built in 1984 in answer to the horrible North Sea floods of 1953, the same impetus to the building of the Maeslant Barrier near Hoek van Holland, the methods used by the UK versus the Netherlands to prevent flooding along their main river could not be further apart. While the Netherlands uses two huge floating gates which remain in dry dock when not being used, the Thames Barrier is made up of ten steel gates, eight of which lie flat on the riverbed and rise to close during extreme flooding risk. The Dutch test their system annually in September, whereas the Brits test theirs monthly. 

They did it! Carlin and Kent walked from the source of the Thames to the official end of the Thames Path for a total of 184 miles (294K). We walked for 12.5 miles (20K) that day bringing our weekend total to 39 miles (63K). Hard to believe that the Thames riverbank through London is so long!

Unfortunately, Carlin and Kent had to dash to the airport, so they couldn’t join us at the Thames Barrier Information Center where we watched a very informative movie about how the system works and saw several displays before being kicked out because the staff felt like closing early.

Technically, the Thames Barrier is not actually at the North Sea, so some diehard trekkers continue to walk to the Thames Estuary. However, that leg is not considered part of the official Thames Path because it is very industrial and not conducive to walkers. Although Kent seems to think that perhaps someday they will walk that final leg, I agree with Carlin that I’d rather skip that to walk along the coast to see pretty views instead. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have simple needs: a nice place to walk and an occasional fish pie.