The Thames has a long and tortuous history.

Under the protection of rubber boots and fisherman's overalls, Steve brooke crossed a muddy ocean and stopped every few feet to probe the wet ground with a trowel. "We are looking for pure black mud," the 50-year-old marathon runner and commercial window assembler told me. "Black mud is anaerobic and there is no air in it." If we throw your coach in, "Brooke added, using an English word to describe running shoes," it will exist for 500 years. "

From this story.

Steve brooke and his colleagues collected historical relics preserved in an oxygen-free environment on the river bank. Canoeists on the Thames in London drift with the tide near the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. (Karim Kanoun/ souvenir of tourists' photos) Steve Brooker and his colleagues collect historical relics in the anaerobic environment along the river bank. (Catherine Cano) Before the Royal Henry Regatta on the Thames (the first annual regatta held in 1829), the audience cheered. (Catherine Cano) Near Oxford, Jon Bao Ye is in charge of the grafton Lock, which was built in 1896 and is one of the manual gates of this river. Bobby is practicing the Big Ben boat race on the Thames to the Eiffel Tower. (Nils Jorgensen/REX USA) Trailers often take part in the Henry regatta just to enjoy the carnival of the crowd. Here, end customers celebrate this day with Pim's first glass of liqueur. (Catherine Cano) The people who took part in the regatta sat down to enjoy the meat pie decorated with the word "Henry". (Catherine Cano) The innovative stalker poured Pim's cup with a watering can, which is a drink made of Pim's 1 liqueur and lemonade or ginger beer. The Thames has been synonymous with boating for nearly three centuries. The picture shows the river that runs through Oxford. (Catherine Cano) Fishermen fish in the Taidington River, and the Thames has changed from a freshwater river to a tidal river. Between Oxford and London, the towns along the river have become rich because of inland trade. With the passage of time, the railway made the canal obsolete, and this part of the river was reborn as a playground for the upper class. A man crossed Windsor Bridge and walked to Eton College on the Thames. The Thames is 2 15 miles from the Cotswolds to the North Sea. It is the longest river in Britain and has witnessed the historical events it has experienced. (Steven Steinchivich) Photo Gallery

The XXX Olympic Games: The Smithsonian's Guide to Boating on the Thames for 300 Years Sherlock Holmes' London Creek took me to a section of the Thames that flows through Greenwich, an area in the south of London, the former site of the plesent Palace, the birthplace of King Henry VIII and Mary I and their half-sister Elizabeth I, which was demolished in the17th century. In order to inspect a garbage dump with a history of nearly 600 years, the royal staff discarded everything from oyster shells to the pins used by Elizabeth I for fixing, as well as their high-frilled round collars. This is Brooke and his loach's favorite excavation site. These amateur archaeologists have got permission from the city of London. They wandered the banks of the Thames looking for fragments of London's history.

The name of these loaches comes from street urchins foraging along the river in the19th century. Brooke said, "They are the lowest." . "They look for rags, broken boats and anything that can be sold." When the Thames meanders through London, Brooke walks along almost every inch of the Thames, studying the tides and currents of the Thames. He is one of the most prolific observers of the organization and a minor celebrity, starring in the documentary series "Clay Warrior" being broadcast by the British History Channel. He called himself the "mud god",

When we were walking along the river, Brooke bent down and pulled out a thin-looking copper coin from the mud. He believes that this coin is a "merchant token" issued by shopkeepers such as candlelight workers and butchers in the c *** period of17th century, and it was accepted instead of cash because of shortage. Other recent discoveries include a beautifully carved wooden harpoon with a history of about 4,000 or 5,000 years, iron balls and chains worn by prisoners in 17 or 18 centuries, stone tools decorated in 16 and 17 centuries, and the skeleton of a young girl 200 years ago, from the Cotswolds to Beihai.

The Thames is the longest river in Britain, and mile after mile has witnessed the epoch-making events it has experienced. On June 15, 54 BC, 25 barons forced King John to sign the "Great * * *" in Rennimide by the Thames, which he called "tamesis"-a Celtic root meaning "darkness". Oxford University was born on the north bank of this river. The conspirators gathered in Henry (now the seat of the famous regatta) on the Thames and planned the glorious revolution of 1688, which overthrew the Catholic king James II and put Protestant William and Mary on the throne. Dozens of kings and queens were born, lived and died in Hampton Palace, Pleasant Togna and the riverside of Windsor Castle. When an American congressman used the 2320-mile Mississippi River to fight the Thames, john burns, a trade unionist and congressman, replied, "The Mississippi River is muddy water, but the Thames is flowing history."

On July 27th, a Times beauty contest was held in front of hundreds of millions of spectators: the Olympic torch was passed from Hampton Stadium to the floating stage of Stratford Olympic Stadium. Although the Thames will not be used in any subsequent books, Doni Lake, also known as Eaton Boating Center, an artificial waterway near the river, will be the most popular activities in the Olympic Games: boating and kayaking.

As a Londoner celebrating the Thames (including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee held by the river in June), I decided to take a boat to walk along the Thames Trail (a 184 mile long trail between the Cotswolds and Tetdington Rock in the suburb of London). I am eager to go to some places for pilgrimage. These places used to be places where English kings and queens, literary lions and nobles lived and played. I also heard that the upper Thames has hardly changed in recent centuries. I don't know if it is a waterway that is "brilliant because of the magnificent coast" as daniel defoe, a novelist in the18th century said. The waterway is a 30-foot-wide stream. I boarded the Bacch *** ia, an electric cruiser driven by ashley smith, who used to be a locksmith's assistant and a resident of Oxford. (This ship needs to be charged 12 hours, depending on several charging points between La Clade and London). It runs quietly at the maximum allowable speed of 5 miles per hour to avoid damaging the fragile banks of the Thames. We passed the Woods of willow and hawthorn trees, and the parsley in the fields covered with Queen Anne's lace and cows. Swan, wild duck and black raccoon played in the reeds.

After a few minutes in La Clade, we arrived at St John's Lock, the first of 47 locks on the Thames, some of which have a history of nearly 400 years. Ship lock is a kind of navigation elevator, which allows ships to descend or ascend where the water level drops sharply. The ship enters the narrow cabin, the gate is sealed, and the water flows through the sluice in the gate until the water level in the lock is equal to the river. Today, centuries have passed since St. John went to King's Ten Locks near Oxford. Hand-operated doors and locksmiths live by the river.

The grafton lock built in 1896 was warmly welcomed by the locksmith Jon Bao Ye. He used to be Smith's boss. Bao Ye told us that in the Middle Ages, there were no sluices on the Thames, only dams or weirs to control the water flow and provide electricity for the mills along the river. The boatmen sailing on this river were forced to "shoot weir" and run in a crack in the dam-a kind of spring water "made of turf A", whose water is called "syrup", which comes from Greek and means antidote, and is considered to have therapeutic effect. Dobson thought of this spring when he wrote the "syrup well" mentioned by Dormouse in Alice's Adventures. "It seems like nonsense, but it is based on reliable historical information," Davis told me.

Doggerson is not the only writer who gets inspiration from the Thames flowing through Oxford. Dorothy L. Sayers1935 mystery novel A Flashy Night opened at a party in Oxford, and detective Peter Wenxi and his fiancee Harriet Fan En embarked on a romantic river trip. Ronald Knox's Footsteps to Lock the Door is a classic detective novel, and colin dexter's "Detective Morse" series is a ruthless Jaguar driving investigator in the Thames Valley Police Department. These two novels are also immersed in the rich atmosphere of the Thames in Oxford. 1806, Captain Horatio Hornblower attended Lord Nelson's funeral in London, and boarded a canal boat in hornblower and Atopos in Forrest. When the crew was as drunk as a fiddler, hornblower had to skillfully drive the tiller, cross the sluice and weir and sail for Oxford. Between Oxford and London

The towns along the river have become rich because of inland trade. From 65438 to 0790, a canal system connected the Thames with London. The coal, malt, flour, wool, wood, cement and cheese in the middle are all transported downstream. "Their main trade is with London," daniel defoe said of the Thames barge, "although they must have a lot of trade to enter the country to consume the goods they shipped from the London barge." Of course, with the passage of time, the railway made the canal obsolete, and this part of the river became a playground again. For the upper class,

Located in a wealthy riverside town, such as Marlowe, there is a well-preserved Georgia Avenue and a riverside hotel17th century, Compleat Angler. Its guests include J.M. Barry, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Noel Coward, tallulah bankhead, Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II. On both sides of the forest are beautiful manors, such as Clivi Deng Manor, the former residence of Ms. Nancy Astor, and luxury resorts of royalty and celebrities in the early 20th century.

Nowhere can you capture the atmosphere of the past better than Henry on the Thames. This is the place where the Royal Regatta is held every year. The first match was held on June 1829 10. At that time, the top eight of Oxford beat Cambridge by 60 yards with a score of 14 13 seconds, and rowed from Hambleden Lake Racecourse to Henry Bridge, and 20,000 people cheered from the river. 1839, Mayor Henry opened the competition to all contestants. On the eve of the regatta, the British "Bell Life" announced in London: "There is no more harmless and healthier entertainment than water sports. All those who witnessed the grand competition between Oxford and Cambridge in 1829 will agree with us. We can't imagine more beautiful scenery and vivid scenes than this. " . Starting from 1924, the contestants walked along a track in Miaodao until they reached Baiyangjiao, 550 yards away.

In order to feel the competition, I rented a rowing boat at the seaside next to Henry Bridge for 10. I forgot a warning, the wind is blowing, and it may be difficult for me to get back to the upper reaches. I easily rowed down the Thames and rowed on the bank. At Temple Island, the starting point of the competition, I enjoyed a magnificent dome built in 177 1. The monument stands in a forest-covered nature reserve, decorated with Doric columns and a fairy sculpture. Then I set off and stood in the middle of the stream. Soon, the Gothic Church on Henry Bridge came into view. The wind is really accumulating strength, and the sound of waking up from the motor boat almost knocked me over. I work with Qi Xin, and the pain in my lower back is getting worse. After 29 minutes 17 seconds, I swept a row of antique Victorian houses and crossed the finish line at Henry Bridge, only 2 1 minute behind the record.

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