The Thames Relay River Walk has come to a beautiful end

With the relay, we did not only celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Thames Path, but also its public access which makes it a path for everyone. We shared our gratitude for our river Thames during the walk as well. A total of 345 participants joined, led by 20+ local walk leaders, many of them are part of Rambler groups. The itinerary was based on our Thames river walk in 2023.

Maarten and Li An joined the last two days of the relay, which were led by the South Bank and West London rambler groups. The relay crossed 216 bridges (excluding the London ones) and many miles of mowed paths often tended by many volunteers. The intimacy with the river in the non-tidal and upstream part of the Thames was noticeable. Many people enjoy the river and have a close connection. In the tidal part of the river, the quays are higher and the more historical stories and buildings are more on the foreground.

Many councillors and mayors joined and welcomed us. The final day we were joined by Cllr. David Gardner, the mayor of Greenwich, and David Sharpe, the founder of the Thames Path. During the closing event, Peter Finch from the Royal Thames Society, together with Wendy Tobitt, Chair of the Thames Path Partnership, received the title of ‘Thames Path champion’.

The Thames relay was a collaboration between the Thames Path and Drinkable Rivers. It was organised by Clare Jarratt, Hannah Gutteridge, Roger Baker and Wendy Tobitt. Thank you all for the great collaboration!

Also a big thank you to James Manthel, our new team member at Drinkable Rivers and co-founder of Mayors for a Drinkable Thames: it was a pleasure working with you!

A big thank you to all walk leaders and co-walkers for making this Thames relay a success!