Thames Landscape Strategy - Hampton to Kew -

Looking back and forward

We may only be in first week of 2006 but already the year ahead is shaping up to be just as busy for the Thames Landscape Strategy as 2005. The London’s Arcadia project is now well underway and much of the first stage is now complete including the restoration of Richmond Terrace and Field, landscaping to Isleworth Promenade, new seats bins and grassy slopes to Richmond Riverfront and, hedge planting on the Ham Avenues. In total over £3m has been raised for the project and just more than £1m has been spent.

The area that the Thames Landscape Strategy covers extends from Hampton Waterworks to Kew Bridge (both sides of the river) and for 2006 we have new and exciting projects planned for a much wider area than Richmond and Twickenham, it will include Molesey, Teddington and Kingston. It is still early days and there is a lot more consultation needed but already some aspects of these schemes are ready to be implemented.

Like so many towns, Kingston traditionally turned its back on the river due mainly to the industry that lined its banks. But scratch beneath the surface and Kingston also has the most glorious boating traditions associated with the river. It is the town that Jerome K Jerome hired his skiff from before setting off, three men in a boat, up the Thames to Oxford and there are more rowing, sailing, canoe, punting and skiff clubs clustered around the town than anywhere else I can think of. The Thames Landscape Strategy plan is simply to ‘Put the Thames Back into Kingston’, to celebrate this watery heritage and to use it as a mechanism to regenerate the use and character of the Thames corridor. The Charter Quay development started the ball rolling opening up huge sections of the riverside previously closed off to the public. However, we will be looking at a much wider area extending from Queens Promenade through to the Half Mile Tree on the Lower Ham Road.

To make Kingston a key Thameside centre it has been important to look at the riverside open spaces from the point of view of how they interact with the river itself including its wildlife, flooding and uses. Working closely with the Royal Borough of Kingston and the Environment Agency we are currently consulting on what local people and users of the river would like to see and to help us, Kingston Council has provided us with the fees that are collected from visiting boats to plough back into river facilities. As one may imagine this is not a fortune but it has been enough to facilitate much of the preparation work for fundraising that is needed to improve water based facilities.

These projects will have far reaching implications. If we are successful it is hoped that with time, new facilities to be installed to allow trip boats to stop at Teddington Lock, Cross Deep, Ham Car Park, Kingston and Twickenham. This, for the first time in decades would link all the wonderful houses, gardens and town centres along the Thames between Hampton Court and Kew by river transport that could be enjoyed by everyone.

The projects of the Thames Landscape Strategy are diverse and are as much about finding ways for people to enjoy our glorious landscape as they are about creating areas for wildlife to flourish, the restoration of a historic feature or reducing the impact of climate change. On New Years Day, I wandered up Richmond Hill for a walk in the park and to enjoy a pint outside the Roebuck whilst the sun went down. As usual the winter sunset was magical and the Terrace Walk was jam-packed full of people enjoying the spectacle. I get so much pride in my job on days like these. There were literally hundreds of people from all walks of life up on the recently restored Terrace and it looked great. This time last year, the railings were shabby and broken, the gravel surface was pot-holed and the steps to the field broken. Below, on the Terrace Field a family was flying a kite where previously the hideous chain link fence had been and a young couple leaning on some new bollards got ever so excited at their first ever sighting of an owl as it swooped overhead (it was actually a kestrel but I didn’t like to spoil their moment).

Whilst on the hill, I took the opportunity to have a look at the hedge we had planted late last year. 500 holly whips were planted on the Terrace Field boundaries mixed with various types of thorns that are traditionally found in countryside hedges. Although holly is most associated with this time of year it needs to be planted when the ground is still warm and moist. For this reason, volunteers planted the hedge back in October. With time the small plants will grow into a magnificent thick hedge full of nesting birds.

During the close of the year, we also carried out work as part of the London’s Arcadia project to the old town wharf outside the White Cross pub in the centre of Richmond. The project involved re-laying the lost granite setts between the bottom of Water Lane and St. Helena Terrace. This, we thought would be a simple project but the river and the weather joined forces against us. The contractors had timed their work to take place between the periods of spring tides but through a cruel twist of fate each time the tide was low enough to allow work to proceed there were long periods of frost. This delayed completion for over a month. The finished surface however, is wonderful and well worth the wait.

We have been asked why did we not use the same stones as are found down Water Lane. This is due to the tides and the layer of slippery mud that is deposited on the ground following tidal inundation. It was important to use rougher stones with a wider gap between each one in the lowest areas that flood regularly in order to achieve a surface that has more grip to walk on. We did manage to find stones that matched exactly those in Water Lane and these have been intermingled with rougher setts.

With the work to Water Lane completed the contractors have moved onto the Bridge House Gardens. The main objective here is to provide a ramp to link Richmond Bridge with the Thames Path. This is important not just for those who have different access abilities but also for the huge numbers of parents who use this busy entrance to the river and find themselves bouncing buggies precariously down several flights of steps.. The National Trails Office (who administer the Thames Path Long Distance Footpath) identified improving this entrance as one of their key priorities for the entire River Thames. In addition to the access improvements a new set of steps will be built through the gardens to replace those so badly broken and the area will be re-landscaped and planted. It will remain a popular public open space and we are currently seeking sponsorship for a number of benches that we would like to install in the gardens particularly alongside the low wall that overlooks the river. If you would like to sponsor one of these all you need do is contact us at the Arcadia office on 020 8891 7309.

River Fact

It is only during December and January that when viewed from Richmond Hill the setting sun is so low in the sky that it disappears immediately over the famous bend in the river. By mid-summer the sun sets much farther west over the gasholder at Southall.

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