Live along the River Thames

[Downunderduchess]

I love looking at google maps exploring different places I would like to live. Does anyone here live on the river Thames? Parts of it look lovely and it makes me feel like I would be living in a story book. Tell me your views please.

A very busy story book. I do like it but it wouldn't be my first choice if I had the money to afford it.

We have lived on a backwater not too far from Windsor for over 20 years. We have a small boat (17ft day boat).
Pros - being able to go out on the river at a whim, no mooring fees, loads of wildlife,. a real mix of property fron 1930s bungalows to large modern detatched houses (though inevitably the bungalows are going), good sense of community, a real mix of people.
Con - flooding. The road has flooded seriously twice in the last 20 years (first time was a 'once in 50 years event', 10 years later the second time was worse...). Our house was fine, however older houses on our street were not.

Honestly - I bloody love living where we do .

We no longer do, but we used to live in west Oxford, and our garden backed onto the Thames path. Floods never actually came into the garden, though it was close-run once or twice. I loved it — I used to run in the mornings through Port Meadow (common land with a very interesting history) and to Binsey church, Godstow and Wolvercote, and Wytham Woods wasn’t far, and there were a couple of nice pubs, the Perch and the Trout, within a walk, an old boatyard, and a farm where you could pick your own vegetables. A friend lent us a two-person kayak while she was out of the country, so we used to launch it out the back garden gate.

‘Lewis Carroll’ first told the story that would become Alice in Wonderland to the three Liddell sisters rowing along this stretch of river on a picnic.

@Bailegangaire and @Grumpyoldpersonwithcats I knew it!! Sounds magical!!

It wasn't the Thames but as a child we lived in a house from when I was about 9 til 13 years old, backing into a river. I loved it and ever since have eyes up my own properties in the hope of a river/stream. I saw one recently on a river bike ride near me where the home owner had build a shed on the garden river embankment with a large windowed back wall facing the river, and a veranda, some other houses also had boats mored too - it's my retirement idyllic setting 🥰
I do have to agree with the above about flooding, with our home as kids it was at the bottom of our 150m garden that had quite a slope so in the last 30-40m so it didn't reach our home ever, but flooding and breaking banks was not that uncommon

I've just read three men in a boat and ended up googling a lot of the places they mention. It looks very posh and nice!

I grew up on the Thames. It was lovely.
As a kid I used to swim in it, mess about in rowing boats on it. Walk and look at birds in it. Watch the boats and locks and rowing club and islands and houseboat people. Mist on the river - beautiful. That does all feel like wind in the willows type stuff !
Negatives - watching it get high ! Floods ! Crowds. I feel so lucky grew up decades ago - now the bit I know is unbelievably crowded and part of a popular bicycle route etc. Still beautiful at quiet times.

Rural Thames or City Thames?

I live in central london. My Covid walk/ running route has been Along the river admiring St Paul’s - Tate Modern - Blackfriars- southbank proper - the Tower & Tower Bridge.

At the current moment I would quite happily NEVER see the Thames path again!!

The river between Oxford and Reading is the stuff of fairytales. I spent many long lazy sunny afternoons round there when I was younger.

OP you should try reading Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield - it literally is a sort of strange fairytale set along the banks of the Thames in the 19th century

I'd love a second house there.

I have friends that live near the start of the Thames. They love it -swimming and paddleboarding.

You might need to differentiate between the river Thames and the Tideway Thames, which is the bit below Teddington Lock that flows through London and is subject to tides. (Rivers of London fans — the Mama Thames bit vs the Father Thames bit!)

I’m on the river in London. It’s nice to have a view of the river but I certainly wouldn’t describe it as magical! It’s all new-build flat developments around here, so very modern. It’s also very densely populated, and busy. It’s handy for London, I can be in the West End in about 20 minutes (although that’s nothing to do with the river). If you wanted to buy a flat directly on the river around here you’d need getting on for a million quid.

DH (then boyfriend) and I used to live in a flat on the Thames in the Limehouse/Canary Wharf area before we moved out of London.

It was a beautiful view to have from your balcony/window but there’s a surprising amount of noise from river traffic, particularly the party boats that used to go up and down at night (I’ll never get forget being woken up by the Thong Song at 12.30am)

My childhood dream was to live in a lock keeper’s cottage, by a canal.

I lived on the Thames at Greenwich and absolutely loved it. It is surprisingly noisy as a PP said but also fascinating. I hardly watched TV whilst we were there as the river traffic and bird life was far more interesting

The Thames is at the bottom of my street. It is lovely living near the river. I really appreciate watching the seasons change with the river as a backdrop. It gets very busy around here in the summer as there are a few very popular riverside pubs, but in the winter it's very calm and peaceful. Or at least it was before this latest lockdown, it's like Oxford Circus at the moment as no one has anywhere else to go!

Which areas are you looking at OP? It's not really like living in a story book where I am, but I imagine some more rural areas along the Thames would have more of that kind of vibe.

@MessAllOver

The river between Oxford and Reading is the stuff of fairytales. I spent many long lazy sunny afternoons round there when I was younger.

The stretch from Reading to Runnymede isn't bad either : Mapledurham, Henley, Shiplake , Marlow, Cliveden Reach, Bray, Windsor and onto Hampton Court.

Grew up in Pangbourne. Loved it growing up....think picnics by the river, paddling and swimming when I was older etc but now live near the sea and I love it here just as much.

I’ve lived in Sydney all my life, so it’s just a day dream. I grew up reading Enid Blyton and C.S Lewis. I really love the thought of a cosy cottage with the river at the bottom of my garden. I was googling today and I thought I know who I can ask, the trusty Mumsnetters. Thanks for your feedback & memories.

The stretch from Reading to Runnymede isn't bad either
Agreed - that's the stretch we are on.

To illustrate the good and the bad.
Enclosed is a photo of our backwater taken from the bottom of the garden this morning.
And a picture of me standing in our road in 2014...

I live 5 mins walk from the Thames, right near a bridge across. It's so busy at the moment but when the sun is shining, walking across the bridge is lovely.

I grew up on the Isle of Dogs and always swam in the Thames in the summer. We also used to swim in the docks. I now live on the Thanes Estuary in Essex so still feel a connection. I love walking by it. Unfortunately so does everyone else so it can get very busy!

I would love this. Mudlarking by Lara Maikin (sp?) Is a great book.