So plans are afoot to install four ‘Archimedes’ Screw’ electricity generators at Sunbury Weir – and, not surprisingly, there is a good deal of opposition to the idea being expressed.
Recent developments
Key to unlocking lock dilemma
As regular readers of this column will be aware, I’ve often expressed doubts about the Environment Agency’s decision not to replace resident lock keepers on the Thames and to rent out their empty houses to the public.
Sunbury’s old lock next for new look
But lock-keeper’s house to be included in Environment Agency’s renting experiment
Chertsey Lock has had a makeover
Boat owners can make the most of Environment Agency’s £600,000 refurb
A year in the life of the river
Mort looks back over the last 12 months
Tunnel vision in bid to solve waste problem
Not that long ago, you will recall, David Walliams swam the length of the Thames to raise money for charity – and promptly became rather ill from swallowing river water that had been polluted by sewage.
Lock keepers get backing from users
More than 100 people turned up to a meeting of the River Users’ Group, section eight (RUG8) at the Thames Motor Yacht Club at Hampton Court last Tuesday (November 1) and sent a clear message to the Environment Agency demanding a rethink on its proposals to freeze the recruitment of lock keepers and to rent out lock side houses left empty by retiring keepers.
Heads up on river works this winter
For most of us boat owners, the winter is a time for taking the boat out of the water, snugging it down and spending hours dreaming of those faraway days in the spring when we can get back to the serious business of having fun on the water.
Will plans raise risk of flooding?
I do despair sometimes when hearing about the Environment Agency’s plans. The current proposal not to replace resident lock keepers along the non-tidal Thames and to rent out their vacant homes – including those at Chertsey and Sunbury Locks – is a case in point.
Steps to improvement
One of my earliest recollections of the River Thames takes me back to when I was five or six.