Like most other people we watch the news and monitor the dreadful statistics each day. And like most we are encouraged by the numbers of people being vaccinated every day.
It is our view that, at the current rate, sufficient people will have been vaccinated by the end of March to have a dramatic effect on hospital numbers. Allowing a month for the vaccination to take effect that means, we think, from May we will be back to normal. That is the plan we are working towards.
The New Year floods may have disappeared last week. However, they left the ground very saturated and therefore vulnerable if further rains came. Whilst we were spared the full effects of Storm Christoph, it didn’t take much rain this week to create fresh alerts. Yesterday the Environment Agency issued fresh flood alerts to most of the Thames from the source as far as Hurley. Check out our Alerts page for the latest.
The Cotswold Water Park, found close to the source of the Thames, has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The site comprises 177 lakes formed from gravel pits and supports 35,000 wintering birds as well as important aquatic plants.
Lockdown 3 seems to have brought the seals back. Last spring we reported sightings in the Rotherhithe area. This week there were multiple sightings of a seal as far upstream as Richmond and Twickenham. Of course, we don’t really know if it’s one seal or many.
And thank you to the readers who wrote in spotting last week’s mistake. They were winter Aconites, not yellow crocuses!
To make up for it, here’s a beautiful tree in Mapledurham right on the Thames Path. Can you name this one? The bark is aromatic when burnt.
With the news that Glastonbury has decided to cancel for 2021 we are keeping a close eye on festivals listed on our Events page. The only event that we know to have been rescheduled is the University Boat Race which, this year, will be held on the Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire.
The Thames Luminaries series of lectures kicks off this week:
Wednesday 27th: Within the garden walls at Hogarth’s House
Thursday 28th: A Painter’s Garden: JMW Turner and the grounds of Sandycome Lodge
Friday 29th: Alexander Pope: the poet and the poetic landscape
All lectures are online at 7pm and must be pre-booked. Although free, donations are encouraged. Further details here.
Last week we showed a selection of bridges from the source to Reading. This week we’ve continued our journey down to Teddington, the start of the tidal Thames. There are a further 17 bridges to show including 2 suspension bridges; one designed by Sir Edward Lutyens; Brunel leaves his mark again; a footbridge created from a gravel pit conveyor belt; and the site of the oldest bridge outside London.
The full list can be seen here
And finally…
No one could not have been moved by the scenes in Washington this week during Joe Biden’s inauguration. But did you know that the bible that he swore on is known as the Douai Bible? Douai, France, was home to Benedictine monks who fled to England at the end of the 19th century. Pangbourne, on the Thames, is now served by the monks of Douai Abbey, Woolhampton, their successors.
Take care of yourselves.
Ready to book?
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