There was a bit of a spectacle down at the Thames Barrier on Sunday afternoon. Bet you missed it. Once a year they raise all the gates, just to check that they still work, and attempt to hold back the tide for ten hours. There are shorter monthly barrier closures too, but Sunday's was the full annual showpiece. It's rather impressive too. The closure started at low tide, around six in the morning, and by the time I arrived at noon there was already a considerable differential between the height of the water on both sides of the barrier. Downstream it was most definitely high tide. A crowd of locals had gathered on the terraces by the visitors' centre, looking out over the glassy water towards the upturned gates. This was London's flood defence in full effect, with millions of gallons of water being held back by an impenetrable wall of steel. Upstream the river looked very different. Here it was still low tide, and the pebbly beach beside the barrier remained fully exposed. Nine silver piers glinted in the sunlight, and a swarm of seagulls bobbed and swooped above the choppy white water inbetween. At one o'clock precisely a siren blared out from Barrier Control and a single gate rolled imperceptibly upwards. It raised into "underspill", just far enough to allow water to gush underneath and to begin filling the channel beyond. A surge tide rushed out across Woolwich Reach, forming a swirling tempest in the middle of the river. This was no scary wall of water, nothing dangerous, but it was a rare sight all the same. Every few minutes another gate was semi-lifted, rolling a few degrees upwards to allow yet more heaving water to tumble through. The assembled crowds stared, and smiled, and snapped photographs on whatever electronic gizmo they happened to have brought with them. It would be another three hours before the water levels had equalised sufficiently to allow the gates to descend back into the riverbed, and for maritime traffic to resume plying its trade up and down the Thames. And it'll be another year before the Environment Agency plans anything similar, should you fancy coming down next September (unless it rains a lot, obviously, in which case those gates might be rolling back up rather sooner).
There was a bit of a spectacle down at the Thames Barrier on Sunday afternoon. Bet you missed it. Once a year they raise all the gates, just to check that they still work, and attempt to hold back the tide for ten hours. There are shorter monthly barrier closures too, but Sunday's was the full annual showpiece. It's rather impressive too. The closure started at low tide, around six in the morning, and by the time I arrived at noon there was already a considerable differential between the height of the water on both sides of the barrier. Downstream it was most definitely high tide. A crowd of locals had gathered on the terraces by the visitors' centre, looking out over the glassy water towards the upturned gates. This was London's flood defence in full effect, with millions of gallons of water being held back by an impenetrable wall of steel. Upstream the river looked very different. Here it was still low tide, and the pebbly beach beside the barrier remained fully exposed. Nine silver piers glinted in the sunlight, and a swarm of seagulls bobbed and swooped above the choppy white water inbetween. At one o'clock precisely a siren blared out from Barrier Control and a single gate rolled imperceptibly upwards. It raised into "underspill", just far enough to allow water to gush underneath and to begin filling the channel beyond. A surge tide rushed out across Woolwich Reach, forming a swirling tempest in the middle of the river. This was no scary wall of water, nothing dangerous, but it was a rare sight all the same. Every few minutes another gate was semi-lifted, rolling a few degrees upwards to allow yet more heaving water to tumble through. The assembled crowds stared, and smiled, and snapped photographs on whatever electronic gizmo they happened to have brought with them. It would be another three hours before the water levels had equalised sufficiently to allow the gates to descend back into the riverbed, and for maritime traffic to resume plying its trade up and down the Thames. And it'll be another year before the Environment Agency plans anything similar, should you fancy coming down next September (unless it rains a lot, obviously, in which case those gates might be rolling back up rather sooner).
