Thames at Richmond - # 140/2011

No "big deals" here, but it's time to re-visit the usual scenes and show them as they are right now on certain days in November.


This is the time of very low tides and the river is almost totally "switched off" by the closure of Teddington Weir to allow inspection and maintenance.  So the low water is both natural and also managed by modern man.


Here's the view of the Thames opposite Petersham Meadows.  The Sun is brilliant but there is that noticeable and delightful mistiness in the atmosphere that adds something to a photograph.  It's just a snap, but it sums up why the area has been loved and appreciated by poets and painters for hundreds of years. 

Lone fisherman, big bridge - # 08/141

Late evening sun, massive tidal drop, railway bridge, small fisherman: Strand on the Green, with Mortlake brewery in the far background

Brentford dreaming - # 08/23

The old and the new. Mudlarks down on the mud, prospecting for gold. Tide out. Funky apartments built on industrial dockland. 1801 - 2008: a long time. A quick snap and then the dream was broken as the two turned away and walked back. No second chance.

Camera: Olympus C7070 WZ at 110mm f5.6 direct into the setting sunlight

Mud larking- # 283

At the end of October we get the last of the very high, so called "Spring" tides. The next very high Spring tide will come in 6 months' time - in Spring. This October high tide carries boats up to the highest possible resting point, and leaves them on the mud until April when they can be floated off again.

This natural phenomenon allows sailors to maintain their boats high and dry on the mud and then float them back easily when the sailing season comes again.

The river authority can also open the control gates at the time of the very lowest tides and allow the level of the water to sink to the minimum and carry out maintenance to the banks. This is the time when all the old bicycles and super-market shopping trolleys - and the occasional dumped fire arm - appear, and can be collected.

This photo shows the boats moored at Hammerton's Ferry, and attempts (with only limited success) to catch the glamour of the bright October sun shining on the wet mud as the tide goes down.