Question

Autobiography of a river theams

Answer 1

allyayushAce
‘Thames’ is one of the most ancient words in the English language. The Romans called the river Tamesis possibly from the Celtic word ‘tam’ meaning smooth and ‘isa’ meaning running water but some think the name has deeper roots tracing back to the Sa ‘tamasa’ meaning ‘dark river’ or ‘ nskrit dark water’. ce or, Measuring a mere 215 miles (346 km) from sour to mouth, the Thames is modest in scale. But put quite simply, without the River Thames there would have been no London. The source of the river is at about a mile north of the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire. From here the Thames flows slowly and gently through rich agricultural land to Oxford (where it is called the ‘Isis’), then on to Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Winds Staines and London. The Thames enters London beyond Hampton Court. The extent of its tidal reach is at Teddington Lock, some 20 miles from London Bridge. Downriver from there, the river flows through flat low-laying lands to Tilbury, Gravesend and Canvey Island. The mouth of the Thames is at Yantlet Creek by Sheerness. The picture on the left shows the Thames from central London looking east with the distinctive loop of the Isle of Dogs in the foreground. The Thames is 42 miles in length in Greater London and within this area, the river is linked to the Grand Union Canal and the Regent’s Canal joined by a dozen or so tributaries that feed into the Thames. Some are visible like the Lea, the Ravenbourne and the Wandle. Others, like the Tyburn, Effra and Fleet have been built over and are now ‘lost’, but still run beneath the surface of the city.
The Thames has been visited by fish that are unusual to its habitat for hundreds of years. In 2007 alone, over 100 marine mamma were spotted i the Thames including Harbour Porpoise, Bottlenosed Dolphin, Commo and Grey Sea Most of these exotics have seen in East London around Canary Wharf, Millwall Docks and by the Thames Barrier Canary Wharf, Millwall Docks and by the Thames Barrier. However, some have made their way as far upstream as ls n n ls. been Richmond in West London. ht to se ve d ey burrow deep into muddy riverbanks causing them to collapse. 960s are now abundant and threatening the smaller native crayfish. as all nfortunately the whale died uring attempts to return it to the sea. Chinese Mitten Crabs (left), named for their hairy claws, are thoug have escaped from the holds of Oriental ships in the docks in the 1930s. They took a long time to become established, possibly becau of the river's polluted state but since the early 1990s, their numbers have mushroomed. The crabs are considered a delicacy in their nati south-east Asia, where they fetch up to £40 a kilo and are steame and cooked with soy sauce. Environmentalists regard them as a menace because th Zebra Mussels are another invader. This Russian species, with distinctive stripes, can reach up to 5cm in length and breed quickly, blocking water intakes and robbing other species of food. They cling to any hard surface and their ‘cementing nature’ can cause problems on items such as storm drains and boat propeller blades. American Signal Crayfish are also increasing dramatically in number. They are believed to have been dumped by a restaurant in the 1 A poignant and highly publicized struggle for life took place on the Thames on 20 January 2006 when a five metre Bottlenose Whale w spotted near Lambeth Bridge. The sighting was extremely unusual because this type of whale is generally found in deep sea waters. The unfortunate whale, which normally lives in the Arctic Ocean, swam the way up the Thames to Central London. 24 hour news crews reported the incident blow by blow .