By Patricio Pino
Water flows and captures the human imagination: waves lapping, the tide and the rocks, rivers flowing, all have been memorably used by poets and painters since times past. It’s a core aspect of nature’s mystique and an easy focus for any outdoor scene. Many cities have taken bodies of water as one of their defining aspects. The character and oftentimes the most iconic aspect of a city can be found in a river or a nearby coastline, for example, the marinas of cities like Barcelona or the canals of Venice. For London, the river Thames is a strong example of water moving to define a city.
When I first arrived in London, the Thames seemed like it sat relatively low and generally placid, as it is usually known to be. It’s a wide and shallow river, usually a silty brown color, but to me, I can’t help but feel like the breadth and winding nature of the Thames matches the vast sprawl of London proper. And as I familiarized myself with the city, I realized more and more how much the Thames and the city of London itself are intertwined.
Sitting low and calm, the Thames accompanied me as I walked to get my first impressions of London; it was hemmed in by the Tower of London and dwarfed by Tower Bridge, the first landmarks I saw. But it didn’t leave me yet, I was struck by the sleekness of the Millennium Bridge rising from its waters, thronging with tourists traveling between St. Paul’s Cathedral and Tate Modern Art Museum, but even these landmarks weren’t enough.
Further downriver came the quintessential London spectacles, the London Eye, illuminated and casting lights over the river, and nearby the Palace of Westminster with the iconic Big Ben clocktower. If I told you now that back then, I was focused on the river, I would be lying, but in my memories now, I see it as a powerful connecting thread and maybe one that I’ve underappreciated so far.
Lately, the Thames has been demanding my attention more strongly; with weather that has been a bit rainier than usual, the river has surged in level. Walking along the many famous London embankments feels tantalizingly close, the repetitive sound of sloshing loudly accompanying any walk. And maybe because I’m more familiar with the city, now I’m starting to look closer at the more ground-level aspects of it.
In a strange way, the river is both a core thread at the heart of London’s chaos and an escape from it. It mirrors the sprawl and broadly defines how the city has spread and where its industry has established itself, but in the present day, it’s primarily parks and walkways along its borders. I’m thankful for this strange dichotomy, depending on the hours of the day, I can be walking between crowds of tourists or starkly alone beneath the glimmer of city lights, all while just a few steps away from loud streets and heavy traffic.
In this way, I feel I’m learning more about the city, not just in its most apparent landmarks but in a big picture sense with how it’s constructed. After all, the site of present-day London was decided entirely because of the Thames, the incoming Romans seeing it as a good spot for commerce and convenient travel, marking the spot with the first permanent crossing over the Thames.
Since then, the riverbank has been engulfed in the bustle of trade and industry, which has slowly defined British history and constructed the metropolis where I now find myself. The embankments I walk across mark the historic first attempts at civic architecture; the docks I walk past facilitated centuries of imperialism; in fact, much of the riverside parks are modern efforts to rejuvenate areas that were formerly reliant on industry and maritime trade.
The constant change of decade after decade in one of the world’s most important cities is enshrined in London. But as London itself is so interconnected with its river, there’s a particularly blinding density of historical intricacies along the Thames. Stories of industrialization, colonization, gentrification, are primarily hidden from easy view but definitively present under a sharper analysis, in engravings, forgotten pictures, old accounts, etc.
There’s a whole mess of complexity frothing under the waters of London’s river. I’m thankful that it’s given me pleasant walks and the unexpected gift of considerable knowledge of London’s past. As I get to know London even better every day, it’s a comfort knowing the Thames will always be there to offer up its secrets.
