Islands in the stream... on the Thames

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Islands in the stream... on the Thames

Friday, 08 July 2011 14:07

Islands in the (down)stream on the Thames.... I did not count them, but there were quite a number of islands on our way downstream from Caversham to Henley.

Fry's Island modern dwelling

Fry's is not only the first, but it is well used by the boat yard, Bowls Club and even has this modern dwelling on it ......

Not counting the islands made by the construction of locks or the very small ones, there are approximately 100 islands on the River Thames, many of them only reachable by boat or ferry.

Fry's Island Bohemian Bowls Club ferry

Islands on the River Thames are variously named, "Aits" or "Eyots," and made of sediment deposits gathered over a long period of time. Sometimes they are eroded and new deposits are made downstream, forming a string of islands. This makes a "braided channel" in the river.

So to our downstream cruise. Below Reading there are a couple of small islands, but below Sonning the islands are more prevalent.

Below Sonning Lock

St Patrick's Stream leaves at St Patrick's Bridge, winding around and joining with the River Loddon.

St Patrick's Stream. The name of the boat moored is "Off Duty". This may hint at the owners occupation!

Small islands making up Bucks Ait follow, before the large ones of Hallsmead Ait and The Lynch. In and around these are some good "rough mooring" spots. When we moored by Shiplake College, Phillimore's Island was just downstream from us.

Phillimore's Island

There is a large island at Wargrave, un-named as far as I can see; just past the St George and Dragon pub, it can be accessed by a footbridge from Henley Road. Although it looks as if the Thames is divided by the island, in fact the east channel is actually Hennerton Backwater, which runs all the way down to about half a mile above Marsh Lock. It is navigable in unpowered boats, and is maintained by the landowners beside it. It can be used as a "short cut" and sounds delightful, but we don't have a tender or canoe.

Hennerton Backwater from Fiddler's Bridge, Willow Lane

Poplar Eyot, one of the string of islands below Wargrave at Bolney is also a popular mooring place. On the west bank, some of the riverside houses of Bolney can be seen, but the east bank is very wooded.

Boats at Poplar Eyot

We were looking for a mooring that would give us sight of the satellite for TV, so we continued on to where the river bends to the west. The one John had spotted was free; however it took some getting on to as it was shallower than we thought. Eventually we managed to get the bows in enough for the plank to reach the bank, but our stern sticks out beautifully!