Thames Landscape Strategy - Hampton to Kew -

Arcadian Diary July 2005

The sighting of a seal in Richmond last week makes it hard to believe that this time last year we were witnessing the terrible spectacle of thousands of dead fish floating down the river on the tide. This catastrophic event demonstrated just how vulnerable the Thames is to environmental damage. The sight of a baby seal at Richmond Lock goes go to show that there is still lots of life in Old Father Thames. In fact the Thames is one of the cleanest metropolitan rivers in the world and is literally teaming with wildlife. Just recently, a painted wrasse was discovered at Tilbury Power Station by the Zoological Society of London who has set up a recording station at Tilbury to monitor fish types and populations swimming up the estuary. The painted wrasse is the 122nd species of fish found to live in the Thames – a remarkable achievement when it is given that the river was biologically dead just over 60 years ago.

The occurrence of this species is however highly unusual for the Thames and even more remarkable when one considers that its normal habitat is in the warmer seas of the Mediterranean. Although aquatic species have often swam to British waters on the Gulf Stream the sheer diversity of non-native fish now found in the UK are beginning to make experts consider whether climate change is having a profound effect on the range of certain types of sea life. More and more new species are making their way to S.E. England whilst more established sea life such as elvers are in decline (although sewage pollution certainly does not help here).

The Thames Estuary is now an important spawning ground for bass and Dover sole are now regularly found in the estuary. Small cuttlefish and sea lampreys are back in the river and are now breeding as far upstream as Barnes. The river at this time of year is also teaming with stamp sized baby flounder. These fish use what is called ‘selective tidal transport’ to move about. In this way, they wallow at the bottom of the river during low tide whilst moving about on the currents during the changing tides. The Thames population of flounder is now one of the most significant in Europe and as such any sudden deluge of pollution or further change in the climate could have drastic effects.

Much of the work that we are now planning along our stretch of the river has to take account of wider environmental issues such as climate change and its consequences. This often involves difficult choices and solutions can be way beyond the scope of any one organisation. The Thames Landscape Strategy has joined up with two other local organisations however, (the Environment Trust for Richmond and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) to help in the wider provision of environmental information locally to form the ‘Richmond Environment Network’. Funded by the London Borough of Richmond the aim of the organisation is to provide a one-stop shop for support, information and guidance to organisations, groups and individuals working in the environment and civic pride sector. It is the first of its type in England and is quickly being hailed as a flagship model for other councils to follow. The network can provide information on a wide range of issues ranging from recycling awareness to how to join a local conservation volunteer group. For more information contact the network’s excellent Project Officer Colin Cooper via the website on www.richenvironmentnet.org.uk

As to the more usual work of the Thames Landscape Strategy, several initiatives have moved on considerably over the past month. The Heritage Lottery Fund has been formally approached to help with the Teddington Gateway scheme. In Kingston an ambitious new project has been launched. entitled ‘Putting the Thames Back into Kingston’. This scheme aims to do exactly that – to turn back the clock and restore the town as a major centre from which to enjoy the river. After all, it was from Kingston that Jerome K Jerome hired his skiff before rowing up the Thames inspiring the classic novel ‘Three Men in a Boat’. Working closely alongside the Royal Borough of Kingston and the Environment Agency a series of ideas have been proposed including tree planting, landscaping and considerable improvements to the town’s moorings.

At long last the Heritage Lottery funded works on top of Richmond Hill are nearing completion and the new stone and gravel path along Terrace Walk looks absolutely splendid. The broken railings have been restored but as I wrote last time we would have had to spend a staggering £2m to straighten them any more than we have. This figure is more than the entire grant received from the Heritage Lottery Fund granted to the Arcadia project. Even so they are a considerable improvement and are no longer the embarrassment that they were. To do all the restoration works that were needed would have cost a total of £30m. We received a total of £2.1m from the HLF and are currently raising the £1m needed to match this. Any contributions will be warmly received.

It has taken us slightly longer to complete the works to the Terrace Field than we originally envisaged but we were conscious of the need to do the best job we could within our limited budget. The long dry spell necessitated in constant watering to establish the new planting and grass so the area had to be fenced off during this. It’s an unfortunate expression of the times but without security fences anything from JCB’s to hose pipes will go walkies. Just as the grass has starting to grow the heavens have opened and now the weather is delaying the final stage of the project, putting the sealed gravel surface to the central path. This can only be done when it is completely dry!

It’s an old cliché that the British are obsessed with the weather but it really does make so much difference to almost every aspect of river management, dictating everything from when we can carry out work to more pressing concerns such as the impact that climate change could have on our environment.

River Fact

A baby seal was seen off Richmond Lock last week. A total of 192 sightings of marine mammals were recorded on the tidal Thames in 2004. These included not just seals but harbour porpoises and dolphins.

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