River Thames in Southern England

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River Thames

 

The River Thames flows through southern England, reaching central London and other towns and cities, such as Oxford, Reading and Windsor. The river's name came from Thames valley, Thames Gateway and Thames Estuary. The river's tide in London is a rise and fall of 7 meters.

With a length of 215 miles, River Thames is England's longest river and United Kingdom's second longest. Scattered around the river are eighty islands. Among these islands include Isle of Sheppey,

Isle of Grain, Canvey Island, Rose Isle, Headpile Eyot, Formosa Island and Andersey Island. The Chiswick Eyot is popular in the Boat Race arena while Glover's Island offers spectacular views.

 

Historical islands include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede, Fry's Island at Reading and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. The Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East’s R&B music scene.

Thames contains both seawater and freshwater the river and has a wide support for various marine life. Among the fishes that thrive on its waters are salmon, eel, brown trout, chub, dace, roach, barbel, perch, pike, bleak, and flounder. The largest recorded non-tidal salmon was caught in Maidenhead. It weighed 14.5 pounds and measured 88cm in length. Signal crayfish and Chinese Mitten Crab also serves the Thames as their perfect home.