FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER

It is the pursuit of pleasure that dominates the Thames today where a variety of waterbound activities - angling, boating, canoeing, dinghy sailing, rowing etc - can all be enjoyed.

On this page we are looking at three aspects: Small Boat, Cruiser & Narrowboat Hire, Passenger Trip Boats & Private Charter and Hotel boats. In each case a short history is given followed by details of companies offering a service in that section of the market. Please click the icon of the section that interests you.

	Small Boat, Cruiser and Narrowboat Hire
	Passenger Trip Boats & Private Charter
	Hotel Boats

SMALL BOAT, CRUISER AND NARROWBOAT HIRE

A Typical Holiday Cruiser	A Typical Small Day Boat

Ironically, it was the the growth in the railways that increased the use of the River for leisure pursuits. There is no doubt that boating for pleasure had always been available but the railways gave more people the opportunity of cheap travel to the country from London. From the middle of the nineteenth century towns and villages such as Maidenhead and Pangbourne flourished as scores of people came to hire skiffs and punts for a day on the River.

It was during this period that Mr And Mrs S C Hall researched their book 'The Book of the Thames from its Rise to its Fall' which was published in 1859. It was some 13 years later that Henry Taunt published the first edition of his renowned 'New map of the River Thames' written for' the Tourist, the Oarsman and the Angler'.

As the railways developed, a system of 'One-way' hire was introduced where the hire fee included the cost of returning the skiff, punt or dinghy, by rail, back to its base. But before long, boatyards had metal hoops and canvas covers made for their skiffs and punts so that people could sleep aboard and make longer journeys. Holidays on the River had begun!

Interestingly, in the third edition of his book published in 1879, Henry Taunt wrote an additional chapter extolling the virtue of camping out particularly on a boat rather than on the land. This edition also carried an advertisement for Salter's offering 'a pair-oared pleasure skiff fitted out with tent cover and matress' at a cost of £3.15s.0d for a trip from Oxford to Teddington. This price also included the cost of having the skiff carted back to Oxford.

It was 10 years later, in 1889, that Jerome K Jerome published 'Three Men in a Boat' in which he recounts his trip up the River Thames with his three companions - Harris, George and Montmorency the dog.

In the early 1900's Salter Bros started hiring out Motor Launches and by the 1920's they had a number of 4 berth cruisers which they hired out for £12 per week. A decade later, motor cruisers became more generally available with other companies such as Andrews of Bourne End and Meakes of Marlow joining the increasing number of boatyards that had boats for hire. It is also interesting to note that in 1900, some 541 launches, 162 houseboats and 11284 rowing boats were licenced by the Thames Conservancy to use the River Thames.

However, it was not until the 1950's that we saw significant growth in the holiday cruiser market with many long-established boatyards encouraging holidays afloat and in 1955 the Thames Hire Cruiser Association was formed, an association still going strong today.

Narrowboats are now a common sight on the Thames but it was Maid Line Cruisers who in the 1950's did much to create an interchange of boats between the River Thames and the canals of the inland waterway system. This initiative has recently been reinforced as owners of narrowboats (or any boat capable of navigating the inland waterways) can now apply to British Waterways for a joint registration and licence (called a 'Gold Licence'), which will allow the boat to be used on both the River Thames and other inland waterways. This scheme was introduced on the 1 January 2000. In 2004, some 129 Thames boats took advantage of the scheme whilst a further 1077 boats with these licences visited the Thames from other regions.

The total number of pleasure boats on the non-tidal River above Teddington (including powered and un-powered boats) peaked in the mid 70's at just over 27,000. Since then numbers have reduced but there were still around 16,500 boats using the the non-tidal Thames in 2004. This excluded over 7000 boats that were licenced to visit the Thames for short periods and craft issued with 'Open Event' plates.

As far as motorised boats are concerned, there has also been a decline in the number of private and hire boats based on the Thames over the last 20 years. In 1980 there were 12329 private motor boats and 815 holiday cruisers. The corresponding figures for 2004 were 9049 and 123 respectively. However, the number of day boats for hire has remained fairly steady, fluctuating between 160 and 200. Similarly, the number of passenger boats has remained relatively constant at around the 60 mark. This obviously reflects the fact that more and more people are taking their annual holidays abroad (where the sun can be guaranteed!) but it has not detracted people from continuing to enjoy a day (or even a few hours) on the River, as and when they can, by hiring out small boats or taking a trip on one of the many passenger boats running up and down the River.

Despite this overall decline, there are still a number of centres on the River Thames where self drive boats can be hired. They range from rowing boats and small motorised craft that can be hired by the hour or day, to 12 berth cruisers for a holiday on the River.

A list of the main hire centres is shown below.

Further information about holiday hire, short breaks, day and hourly hire on the River Thames can be obtained from :

The Secretary
The Thames Hire Cruise Association
Annabel Murrell 01252 514410

The following hire boat companies (narrowboats) are not based on the River Thames but access to the Thames can easily be obtained.

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PASSENGER TRIP BOATS & PRIVATE CHARTER

A Salter Passenger Launch	A Restored Passenger Steam Launch

An Up-River Trip Boat

Not everyone wants to drive their own boat. A number of people first experience the Thames by taking a trip on board one of the many passenger boats that ply up and down the River. They just sit back and relax as someone else takes the boat through the locks!

The first steamer to ply for hire on the Thames was the 'Richmond' which, in 1814, ran between central London and Richmond and in 1840 the steamer 'Locomotive' commenced the first regular passenger service between Central London and Hampton Court.

On the upper Thames, the first passenger service was introduced in 1878 by the Thames and Isis Steamboat Company which ran its two steamers 'Isis' and 'Thames' between Oxford and Kingston, a distance of 91.5 miles, but this company ceased trading in 1882.

In 1888, the three sons of John Salter Snr (one of the brothers that founded the boatbuilding company Salter Bros) acquired the steam launch 'Alaska' and re-introduced the weekly return service between Oxford and Kingston. The 'Alaska' would leave Oxford on a Monday morning and arrive in Kingston late on Tuesday afternoon after stopping overnight at a hotel in Henley. The return journey took three days with overnight stops at Windsor and Reading. In 1890, by which time they had two boats, the 'Oxford' and the 'Kingston', this service was extended to twice a week but in 1892, when two more boats joined the fleet, a daily service was introduced. This was later increased to twice daily. The cost of a single fare in 1911 was 14s 0d (equivalent to 70 pence today). The return fare was 25s 0d (£1.25) but there was no charge for passenger luggage provided it didn't exceed a weight of 1 cwt (51 kg)! You did however, have to pay 2s 0d (10 pence) for bicycles. Arrangements were also made for lunch in one of the best local hotels for an additional cost of 2s 6d (12.5 pence).

Today, over 100 years later, Salter Bros have 13 boats (but now with diesel engines) and are still plying the River but due to the increased traffic, the Oxford - Kingston run stopped and now they provide shorter and more frequent trips along different stretches of the river.

Another name synonymous with steam launches is Joseph Mears Launches of Richmond who had a number of launches on their Hampton Court to Greenwich run which were in fact built by Salter's. But their main trips centred around the Richmond - Hampton Court - Windsor area. When they ceased trading, many of their launches were taken over by Thames Launches Limited who specialised in down-river cruises. This company is now part of Thames Passenger Services operating on the tidal Thames.

Another company of this era was Windsor Boats, whose first boat the 'Windsor Belle', built in 1900, is still available today for private charter.

As steam boats declined and diesel boats took over, the popularity of passenger boats seemed to wane but with the advent of all weather boats and the re-kindled interest in spending some time on the River, they have come back into their own - particularly for private charter. There are now around 50 passenger boats on the upper Thames licenced to carry more than 12 passengers with 7 of these licenced to carry more than 200 people. Among the current operators we have Thames Rivercruise at Reading, Hobbs & Sons of Henley, French Bros at Windsor and of course Salter Bros.

Today River trips are available from a number of places on the River Thames and can last from anything between 30 minutes and 4 hours.

In addition, most of these trip boats, along with a number of boats operated by other companies, are available for private charter for parties, wedding receptions, corporate entertaining etc. and are available during the day or evening.

The main trip boat and private charter companies on the upper Thames are listed below.

Further information about passenger boat operators on the River Thames can be obtained from :

Telephone: 01491 834693
Webpage: Click Here

Trip boats also operate in Central London from a number of piers with trips to Greenwich, The Thames Barrier, Gravesend, Richmond and Hampton Court. Sight-seeing and evening disco trips are also available as are private charter cruisers.

A Sight-seeing Boat in Central London

The main piers in Central London from which CRUISES depart are:

Westminster Millennium Pier
Waterloo Millennium Pier
Embankment Pier
Festival Pier
Bankside Pier
London Bridge City Pier
Tower Millennium Pier
St. Katharine's Pier

The main piers in Central London from which COMMUTER SERVICES run are:

Chelsea Harbour Pier
Cadogan Pier
Millbank Millennium Pier
Waterloo Millennium Pier
Embankment Pier
Savoy Pier
Blackfriar's Millennium Pier
Bankside Pier
London Bridge City Pier
Tower Millennium Pier
St. Katharine's Pier
Canary Wharf Pier
Nelson Dock Pier
Greenland Pier
Masthouse Terrace

A list of the main cruise and commuter boat operators in CENTRAL LONDON are shown below. The operators will advise from which pier or piers they depart.

*Commuter Service Operator

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HOTEL BOATS

A Typical Dutch Barge Holiday Boat	A Typical Narrowboat Holiday Boat

Hotel boats that travel the Thames include:

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