The general aim of the path is to provide
walkers with a pleasant route alongside the river. The way this is achieved naturally falls into three distinct areas, depending on the nature of the river in the area.
The unnavigable upper river In the absence of a tow path, the Thames Path uses all available riverside
rights of way between the traditional source of the river in
Trewsbury Mead and
Inglesham, but is unable to run alongside the river in several places. The Thames Path starts beside the monument for the traditional
river source and follows the water down the hill towards the
Fosse Way. In the fields either side of the
A433 are some
springs; and south of this road, a small
water channel can be found and then a pool and small weir, before reaching the
A429 bridge near Kemble. On the stretch between Ewen and
Somerford Keynes the
bourne passes through fields and there are a number of
watermills. The path then follows the watercourse through the
Cotswold Water Park to
Ashton Keynes, where the water divides into a number of streams; the Thames Path partly follows one of these and rejoins the river by Waterhay Bridge. Downstream from this point canoeing in the river is practical. The path wanders to and from the river amongst more
gravel pits until Hailstone Hill, where a riverside path starts by the old railway line. A little further, the
North Wilts canal from
Latton formerly crossed the river on an
aqueduct and ran alongside and south of the river to West Mill Lane. Here the path leaves the river to go through
Cricklade, past
Cricklade Town Bridge, rejoining the river east of the town, and now follows the river all the way downstream to
Castle Eaton. The path next follows
country lanes, a short stretch along a backwater to
Hannington Bridge then goes across fields to Inglesham. In 2018 the path incorporated a section of
permissive path alongside the river at Upper Inglesham. Above Inglesham the river is not
dredged and being without
weirs to control water levels, it is often shallow, weedy and swift but after heavy rain flooding of the riverside paths is common. Today the
Environment Agency (the current successor to the Thames Conservancy) is the
navigation authority responsible for the Thames between Cricklade and Teddington. The navigation towpath starts from Inglesham (just upstream of Lechlade), as does the ability to navigate the river for all but very small boats, although there were once weirs with
flash locks to enable passage as far as Cricklade, and there is still a right of navigation up to Cricklade. The navigation above Lechlade clearly must have been neglected after the
Thames and Severn Canal provided an easier route by canal for barge traffic and not all of the river downstream from Cricklade has a footpath alongside.
The navigable river with locks and towpath The Thames Path uses the existing Thames towpath between Inglesham and
Putney Bridge wherever possible. The former Thames and Severn Canal entrance is the present-day
limit of navigation for powered craft, and is one and a half miles upstream of the highest lock (
St John's Lock), near
Lechlade. Today, between the canal entrance and Putney Bridge, the towpath still allows access by foot to at least one side of the river for almost the whole length of the main navigation of the river, but not
mill streams,
backwaters or a few
meanders cut off by
lock cuttings, since towpaths were originally only intended to enable towing of barges on the navigation. and
River Coln joining the Thames with former canal warehouse to left and
Round House behind it, covered in greenery
Origin of the towpath The Thames has been used for navigation for a long time, to purchase land for a continuous horse path that the non-tidal navigation (and hence the towpath) was consolidated as a complete route under a single (toll charging) authority, upstream to Inglesham. This improved the ability of
horse-drawn barge traffic to travel upstream to the Thames and Severn Canal, which had opened in 1789 and provided an alternative route (also using the Wilts & Berks Canal) for boat traffic to Cricklade. The commissioners had to create horse ferries to join up sections of towpath (for example at
Purley Hall), as the act did not allow them to compulsorily purchase land near an existing house, garden or orchard. The
City of London Corporation, who had rights and responsibilities for the Thames below
Staines from a point marked by the
London Stone, had similarly bought out the towpath tolls of riparian land owners as enabled by the earlier
Thames Navigation Act 1776 (
17 Geo. 3. c. 18). The towpath route has not changed since then, apart from now following Shifford lock cut; however, over time the towpath ferries became obsolete and the last towpath ferry to stop running was the
rope ferry at Bablock Hythe in the 1960s.
Deviations The main exception to towpath access to the navigation between Inglesham and Putney is a stretch of river where the former towpath was removed past
Windsor Castle. The castle's private grounds of
Home Park, Windsor were extended to include the riverbank and its towpath by the
Windsor Castle Act 1848 (
11 & 12 Vict. c. 53), also involving the building of
Victoria and
Albert bridges and the removal of
Datchet Bridge. This accounts for the Thames Path's diversion from the river at
Datchet. There are two other short lengths of navigation which have no towpath: one between Marlow bridge and lock (which never had a towpath), and one past Whitchurch lock either side of The Swan
public house in
Pangbourne (where the towpath has been lost). At both these weirs, lengthy rope
winches were required for barges to pass Marlow and Whitchurch in the days before steam power. It is also required to divert around Oxford Cruisers downstream of
Pinkhill Lock, even though the towpath is still shown as a public right of way on Ordnance Survey maps. The remainder of the navigation between Inglesham and Putney has an existing towpath; however, river crossings are now missing at the sites of 15 former ferries and one former lock, so the Thames Path makes 11 other diversions from the remaining towpath because of the lack of a river crossing at their original locations. There is also a twelfth temporary diversion at Hammersmith Bridge, described below. Walkers can visit the lengths of river navigation not on the Thames Path using the current towpath, except for two isolated sections of towpath not connected by any public path (or ferry) at either end. The first is a short section of path on the north bank opposite Purley-on-Thames; this is still shown on
Ordnance Survey maps but is inaccessible except by boat, caused by the lack of two ferries formerly diverting around Purley Hall. The second and furthest downstream is a particularly picturesque section of towpath (again shown on OS maps) within the
National Trust grounds of
Cliveden; here the lack of three ferries accounts for the Thames Path's diversion from the river at
Cookham. When Cookham Lock was built in 1830,
Hedsor Water became a backwater and lost its towpath. Around 1822, Clifton and Old Windsor locks were built, with lock cuttings which cut across river meanders; here the towpath was rerouted along the lock cuttings and there is no public riverside access to these river meanders. However, some stretches of river bypassed by navigation cuttings still retain public footpath access: firstly at
Desborough Island (formed by
Desborough Cut); secondly, parts of older towpath accessible at
Duxford (towpath now follows
Shifford Lock cut); and lastly, the river meander at Culham. The Culham meander is accessible, even though only parts are designated as public footpath (towpath now follows
Culham Lock cut) and there is also riverside public footpath along the ancient
causeway past
Sutton Pools. , built in 1989 for the Thames Path (currently closed)
Closed sections Certain sections are closed indefinitely for reasons such as bridge failures. The closure between Shiplake and Henley involves a diversion of 2.7 miles (4.3km), taking about 1hr 15 minutes to walk. The bridge at Hurley is also closed. Details of all closures are shown on the trail's interactive map.
Changes to crossings Historically, there have been replacements for towpath ferry crossings with bridges at Goring and Clifton Hampden and the path across the weir at Benson Lock (the towpath ferry was upstream). In recent times, crossings have been created for the Thames Path; the
Shepperton to Weybridge Ferry was restarted in 1986,
Temple Footbridge near
Hurley was built in 1989, a footpath was attached to
Bourne End Railway Bridge in 1992 (the ferry was upstream), and
Bloomers Hole Footbridge was built in 2000. No other replacement river crossings have been created for lapsed ferries, so the Thames Path must divert away from the river and the towpath to cross the river elsewhere, leaving some sections of towpath not on the Thames Path.
Locks Many walkers visit the
locks on the River Thames and in summer some have facilities open for visitors. A few have small
campsites. The locks at Cookham and Whitchurch are not on the Thames Path and require some effort to visit.
Whitchurch Lock cutting was built through an island in the river and public access to the lock over the weir from Pangbourne or across the millstream at Whitchurch-on-Thames was closed in 1888 to avoid the loss of tolls on
Whitchurch Bridge; as a consequence, Whitchurch is the only Thames lock that is inaccessible by foot – it is only accessible by boat.
Cookham Lock is still accessible although it is not on the Thames Path. The Thames divides into several streams here and the towpath does not connect up without ferries; access to this lock requires a 10-minute walk across Odney Common on
Formosa Island and the Lock Island (incorporating the former Mill Eyot) to
Sashes Island.
Marlow Lock access requires a short walk through town back streets. All the other locks have obvious access from the Thames Path. The lock islands at
Pinkhill Lock,
Eynsham Lock,
King's Lock,
Boulters Lock and
Shepperton Lock can be visited, as can
Penton Hook Island which is a
meander cutoff formed when
Penton Hook Lock was built. Any public footpaths that cross or go along any of the other small islands formed by construction of the Thames locks only allow access to the path alone. Lock building by the Thames Commissioners had improved the whole river navigation from Inglesham to the upper limit of the tidal reach at Staines by 1789. On the tidal Thames below Staines, six new locks were built by the City of London Corporation to improve the navigation between 1811 and 1815. The
Thames Conservancy was established in 1857 to take over duties from the City of London because of falling revenue from boat traffic; it also took on the duties of the Thames Commissioners in 1866. Downstream of here
sailing,
sculling and
rowing, and following the current (or rising and falling tide) were the means of movement until the 19th century,
Thames steamers became more common for transport on the tidal Thames from 1815 until the railways dominated public transport. Falling income from river traffic and disputes over the construction of
Victoria Embankment because of
Crown Estate ownership of the tidal riverbed led to the City of London's seceding management of their part of the river to the Thames Conservancy in 1857; and the section below Teddington was further passed on to the Port of London Authority in 1908. Construction of riverside buildings and structures often meant
embanking the tidal Thames and acquiring riverbed ownership. The historical progression of so many construction works, is why there is not continuous
foreshore access for a riverside path within the
Port of London. Today, downstream of Putney, there are jetties and wharfs on both banks of the river, and sections of the Thames Path often have to divert away from the river around riverside buildings. There are also many
docks, most of them downstream of
Tower Bridge. In
central London, there is much of interest. The Thames Path is one of the
Mayor of London's
strategic walking routes. The Thames Path Cycle Route is a black-signposted route that follows the river between Putney Bridge in the west and Greenwich in the east. It mostly follows the Thames Path, but diverges in various sections, especially where the path follows a footpath-only route. It also links
National Cycle Route 1 (east of London) with
National Cycle Route 4 (west of London). ==Route==