An Australian Boat
The Thames Clipper that brought me down the river was built in Australia. You may find this strange, but that country does have a reputation for building large and/or fast catamarans.
Thames Clipper
Here’s the maker’s plate.
Cyclone Clipper Nameplate
Note the builders were bscship.
Lifeboats on the Thames
The Thames has several lifeboat stations operated by the RNLI.
Tower Lifeboat Station
This is the one at the Tower. Or should I say it used to be on Tower Pier, but it has now been moved to by Waterloo Bridge.
I’m sure this was where the River Police used to have their station. Wikipedia confirms that here.
The Millennium Bridge
Commonly known as the Wobbly Bridge, the Millennium Bridge links St. Paul’s Cathedral to the Tate Modern.
The Millennium Bridge, London
I’ve used this bridge many times.
Note that as you get to St. Paul’s you’ll find the National Firefighters Memorial. This is fitting as it was originally a memorial to Second World War firemen and was later expanded for all firefighters.
I say fitting, as if ever there was a symbol of London in the Blitz, it is the amazing photograph of the cathedral surrounded in smoke, defiantly above the flames.
The New, the Venerable Rowing Club and the Curious
I took this picture of Poplar Rowing Club with Canary Wharf in the background.
Poplar Rowing Club
The rowing club is the third oldest in Britain and dates from 1845.
But what is the round building on the right?
It’s one of the entries to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.
That incidentally is about sixty years younger than the rowing club.
The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena dominates the River Thames.
I’ve only been to the Dome once, whilst it still had the millennium exhibition. It was a great building full of total crap.
Barrier Point
We nearly bought a buy-to-let in this impressive block by the Thames Barrier.
Barrier Point, London
I just wonder what would have happened, if we’d bought the flat.
Would I now be using it as a pied-a-terre?
A Cruise to Central London
I had intended to take the DLR back to Bank, but I noticed that the river buses, Thames Clippers, also ran from the riverfront at the Arsenal to Embankment. So I took one.
It cost £4.80 on my Oyster card to get as far as Embankment with a change at the Dome; or the O2 as it is now called.
It was a very pleasant and comfortable trip in the sun. There was even coffee on board.
The Anonymous Widower 
