SW15 To The Sea

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Helen hits the final stretch of the Thames raising funds and river pollution awareness


Helen's journey begins

Putney resident Helen Charlton has completed her challenge of following the River Thames on a 294km or 184 miles journey from source to sea for rowing and sailing charity The AHOY Centre.



Up early on day 17 of the challenge, to prepare for The Big Ben Challenge: a 10km paddleboarding race on the Thames from Putney to Big Ben (with a paddle back afterwards). Normally you can’t paddleboard through central London-with strong tides, heavy river traffic and wash rebounding in waves from the embankment walls, it can be very dangerous. But once a year in September the Environment Agency conducts its annual test closure of the Thames Barrier, holding back the high tide. The Big Ben Challenge is specially organised to take advantage of the relatively calm river conditions. Sadly the poor weather condition this year resulted in the race being cancelled so disappointed, she made a dash home to change in to walking clothes and Helen hit the Thames path once more.


Crossing the Wandle

Staying on the south bank, Helen walked round the back of St Mary’s Church and followed the Thames Path through Wandsworth Park, traversing the River Wandle where it meets the Thames beside Wandsworth BC’s riverside waste station. Crossing north at Wandsworth Bridge to see old industrial buildings cheek-by-jowl with modern architecture at Chelsea Harbour; followed by the beginning of the long embankment walks next to the river, hiding Bazalgette’s sewers below. Then back south over Vauxhall Bridge, a riot of colours: the bridge painted red and gold, turquoise green windows of the MI6 building overlooking the river, blue sky and white scudding clouds and grey-brown river below - before home to Putney!

An advantage of living close to this section of the river gave Helen the ability to fit in shorter walks around other commitments. So Vauxhall to London Bridge was done in two short walks over two separate days, both warm and sunny.

​Staying south of the river for views across the Thames to Westminster and, later, the City skyline. This meant walking through some areas busy with tourists: old City Hall and The London Eye, along the South Bank and past Tate Modern, The Globe, London Bridge market and More London, to Tower Bridge. These were congested banks of the wide river Thames in an urban setting-very different to the isolated narrow streams of the infant Thames in rural Gloucestershire. Even though she had followed the Thames all the way, it was hard for her to believe it was the same river!

​In London the river is grey-brown (from London clay as well as more suspicious sources), its waters move and shift with the stream, the tide, and wash from river traffic buffeting against embankment walls. And there is a lot of river traffic, as the Thames is still a working river: dredgers, waste barges, sightseeing cruises, Thames Clippers river buses, river experiences, even cruise ships passing through Tower Bridge; plus vessels for the various authorities/agencies associated with the river such as the Port of London Authority, the Met’s Marine Policing Unit and the RNLI.

​While there’s the constant activity of Londoners and London’s visitors around the Thames, the river steadily courses through the middle of the city-crossed by pedestrians and vehicles over bridges and through tunnels, a backdrop for tourist photos, a means of transport, a source of artistic inspiration, with its own life and its own history- Helen wonders how could the BBC have got their coverage of the 2012 Jubilee River Pageant so wrong?

​At London Bridge there’s an inscription on the embankment wall, quoting Sir Walter Raleigh: "There are two things scarce matched in the universe, the sun in heaven and the Thames on earth"

The final and very special day: Day 19

Journeys' end as Helen and AHOY apprentices row through the Thames Barrier
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This final day was different to every other and very, very special. Helen was back on the water at No. 3 seat in a small rowing skiff, rowing on the huge tidal Thames from Tower Bridge to journey’s end at the Barrier and beyond to Woolwich Arsenal. - rowing non-stop for 2 ½ hours in the choppy water of the tidal Thames (with blisters to prove it). Helen was astounded by the vast expanse of the estuarine Thames. On its banks a mix of waterside buildings and infrastructure reflecting the Thames’ industrial heritage and modern role: canal entrances to the old docks, Canary Wharf and O2 (Dome), Cutty Sark and Royal Greenwich, tiny old pubs and rowing clubs next to vast new build offices and apartment blocks.

But all of this was incidental. The real joy and satisfaction of this day was being with her 6 crew members, all graduate AHOY apprentices, and experiencing their infectious sense of fun yet their commitment to the task in hand: getting Helen to journey’s end, in support of the apprenticeship scheme.

As Helen said to the charity: "Completing my journey by rowing from Tower Bridge to Woolwich turned out to be quite a challenge in the strong sunshine and heat, and I lost count of how many crabs I caught-but it was an absolute blast! I had met most if not all of the apprentices when I visited AHOY earlier in the year, and it was remarkable to see how their confidence, camaraderie and sense of well being-plus their boat skills-had developed. They were such a positive group of young people and I felt so proud of them all, and so privileged to have witnessed and, in my own way, to have been part of their journey. It all demonstrated so clearly what AHOY delivers, and what my fundraising has been about."

Congratulation to Helen who has through this journey raised over £10,000 towards a one-year apprenticeship and donations can still be made.


Helen ends the journey with AHOY graduate apprentices

October 15, 2018