Done by: Kruthika, Pramodini, Amrutha
Ø STRENGTHS
Source – Cotswold Hills of Central England.Ø STRENGTHS
·
From
Central England it winds about 210 miles from west to east.
·
It flows
through many cities including Oxford, Reading, Windsor, London, Tilbury.
·
The Thames
Barrier,
built across the river
in East London, provides protection against floods and protects about £
80 billion worth of buildings.
·
In
England, Thames has been the main waterway since the times of the ancient
Romans.
·
It is home
for over 25 species of fish .
·
Today
millions of people depend on the river for water and sewage removal.
·
The
landmarks along the Thames in London includes-
§ Saint Paul’s Cathedral
§ The Tower of London
§ The Millennium Dome
·
Before
railways and good roads were built, the Thames was the area’s main trade route.
Over time many industries were setup along the banks.
·
The river
is the cleanest river in the world that flows through a major city. Today more
than half of London’s sewage sludge is sold in pellet form as fertilizer for
agricultural use.
Ø WEAKNESSES
·
FLOODING-
§ The River Thames is prone to tidal surges.
This happens when a high tide is blown up the Thames estuary by very strong
winds.
§ The city of London is sinking at an estimated
12 inches ( 30 cm) every 100 years.
§ Heavy rain or sudden snow thaw upstream can
cause flooding even in London.
§ Strong winds can blow the water up the Thames
and cause dangerous floods.
·
RIVER
THAMES FROST FAIRS
§ The worst cold spells in Britain occurred
between 1550 and 1750. The climate during this time was known as the Little Ice
Age, when winters were so cold that the
Thames froze over every year.
§ The last frost fair was held in winter of
1814. It began on February 1st , and lasted just four days.
Ø OPPORTUNITIES
·
MEDIEVAL
TIMES
§ Watermen- boat – owners who ferried people across the river.
§ Lightermen- specialist ferrymen who
concentrated on transporting goods from the ships moored in the river to
quayside in flat-bottom barges called lighters.
§ Billingsgate Porters- they deal with all
sorts of goods landed on their quay just east of London Bridge. They became
known for dealing with fish and other seafood only.
§ Mudlarks , were often children who would
search for bits of coal or scraps of clothing to re-sell.
§ Toshers, worked in the mouths of the
Victorian sewers, looking for valuables that had been accidentally ‘flushes
away’.
·
Tourism
creates many jobs-
§ The area of outstanding beauty and it’s the
only river in Europe to have a national trail follow its entire length.
§ The London Eye, a ferris wheel, attracts
around 10,000 tourists a day. It’s also a busy environment of hard work and
high standards.
·
The Thames
Barrier also creates many employment opportunities. Some 1.35 million people
live or work in the at-rise areas.
·
There are
many industries and hydro-power electricity stations which create jobs.
Ø THREATS
·
POLLUTION
§ 50 years ago, the river was so polluted that
it was declared biologically dead.
From 1830 to 1860 tens of thousands of people died of cholera as a result
of the pollution in the
Thames.
§ Sewage was discharged directly into the
Thames. Despite the foul smell ; people
§ In 1878, the pleasure steamship Princess
Alice sunk in a river collisions. Most of the 600 or so passengers who died did
not die from drowning , they died because of the pollution in the river.
§ Charles Dickens , in his novels described the
Thames as ‘a dank, stinking sludge , the scene of murders and crimes’.
§ It was decided that ‘Treatment plants’ should
be built to clean the water from the Thames before it was pumped to homes. The
Treatment plants also cleaned dirty
water from homes before I went back
into the Thames.
BIBLIOGRAPHY-
v
Information
taken for homework purpose only.
