The River Thames, As English As St. George Himself

Today while standing in the Watermans Art Centre, Brentford, Middlesex (over looking the River Thames). It stuck me that there is many things in England that make us what we are, English!
Beautiful oak and Beech woodlands, the wild North Yorkshire Moors. The untamed Cornish coastline and the white cliffs of Dover! One of the best known is Old Father Thames. One of the worlds best known rivers, like the Nile and the Amarzon.
The Thames has been important to England since Roman times. With the Romans came trading links far and wide.
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Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802, William Wordsworth (1770-1850):

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
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These trading links made London one of the most important cities in the world. Time was and is still set from London. All ships are registered by Lloyds of London and many more things spring to mind!
But over the years we have taken the Thames for granted emptying out waste into her! To the point that in the 19th century the River was all but dead! But, since then we have cleared up our act and salmon now have return to the river!
So next time you are down by the Thames stop and pause for a few moments and remember the centuries of history that has ebbed and flowed down this mighty river!

HAPPY ST. GEORGE'S DAY 2010