Latest River Thames Stories

By Anonymous The government has given the final go-ahead to plans for a London Gateway port in south Essex, the first such facility on this scale in the UK for more than 25 years. The DfT issued a harbour empowerment order giving statutory powers to the Pounds 1.5 billion deep-sea port near Stanford-le-Hope. Construction is due to begin later in the year. London Gateway chief executive Simon Moore said: "The scheme will be a logistics platform of a size and scale unique in the UK." As well...

LONDON (Reuters) - London is mustering its flood defences more often as global warming raises sea levels, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, David King, told a Reuters conference on climate change and investment."The biggest indicator of change that is already happening is usage of the Thames Barrier," King told the conference late on Monday."The Thames Barrier was designed to be used once every two or three years and in that period after it was built in 1980 it was...

By Jeremy Lovell LONDON (Reuters) The northern bottle-nosed whale that made world headlines when it strayed into the River Thames in central London two days ago has died as rescuers were trying to rush it to safety aboard a barge. The news follows a sharp decline in the health of the adolescent 18-foot whale after initial optimism that it could be returned to freedom. "I am afraid it had a convulsion and died at 1900 hours," Tony Woodley of British Divers Marine Life Rescue told...

By Tim CastleLONDON (Reuters) - Marine experts who failed to rescue a whale stranded in London's Thames River said on Sunday they hoped worldwide public interest in its fate would promote conservation of the endangered species.Rescue teams had tried to return the adolescent 18-foot (six meter) northern bottle-nosed whale to the open seas but it died on Saturday evening after its health took a turn for the worse."It was always a race against time," Tony Woodley of the British Divers...

By Tim CastleLONDON -- Marine experts who failed to rescue a whale stranded in London's Thames River said on Sunday they hoped worldwide public interest in its fate would promote conservation of the endangered species.Rescue teams had tried to return the adolescent 18-foot (six meter) northern bottle-nosed whale to the open seas but it died on Saturday evening after its health took a turn for the worse."It was always a race against time," Tony Woodley of the British Divers Marine...

By Jeremy LovellLONDON -- A small whale swam up the River Thames to central London on Friday, a rare event which drew large crowds of sightseers and brought traffic to a standstill.But as the whale twice tried to ground itself in the shallow waters, concerns grew that it might not survive.As the Northern Bottle-nosed Whale beached in front of London's landmark Battersea Power Station, three men waded into the river hitting the water and then punching the air in celebration as it swam off.But...

LONDON (Reuters) - The barge that bore the body of British World War Two leader Winston Churchill down the River Thames during his state funeral 40 years ago failed to sell at auction on Thursday. "Havengore" had been expected to fetch over 1 million pounds ($1.8 million), but bidding ran aground at 780,000 pounds and it was withdrawn from sale. "What can I say? It is disappointing. It just didn't find a buyer," said a spokesman for auction house Sotheby's. Havengore, 87 feet long and...

LONDON (Reuters) - The barge that bore the body of British World War Two leader Winston Churchill down the River Thames during his state funeral 40 years ago will go on sale next month and is expected to make over one million pounds. Havengore, 87 feet long and 17 feet wide, entered the annals of history on January 30, 1965 when it carried Churchill's flag-draped coffin past dock cranes with their jibs lowered in mute tribute to the nation's hero. "This is quite unique. It is a piece...

By Patricia Reaney LONDON (Reuters) - A natural phenomenon rather than a design fault caused London's Millennium Bridge to wobble and sway, forcing its closure just two days after opening in 2000. The elegant pedestrian walkway was conceived as a blade of light linking the south bank of the River Thames to the City of London. But as large crowds walked across the steel structure on opening day in June 2000, the 320-meter long bridge swayed from side to side because of a phenomenon...