The Thames River - Alana Hirsch
My favorite class excursion that we have been on thus far is most definitely the boat ride along the Thames River. The River has long been the epicenter of the city, acting as a port, passageway, dumping grounds and so much more and it was fascinating to imagine how different the Thames would have looked had we been sailing on it in the nineteenth century. During our sunny trip down the river, the majority of the ships were also canal boats hosting tours and restaurant boats that offered service with a view. The Thames River today is far cleaner and less congested than it had been when portraits such as James Tissot’s, The Thames, was painted in 1876, depicting a trio of well-dressed passengers enjoy a ride down the river while black smoke billowed out of barges behind them. In both Tissot’s era and today, the Thames represents the stages of wellbeing that London goes through; as a metropolitan city, London is both brimming with class and power, as well as stuffed full of all sorts of people and things, often quite run-down and tired at times. Just as the Thames River had once aided the formation of Britain as the greatest empire in the world, contributing to the economic trade of goods and a means of transportation, the river also experienced a plight of nastiness and grime, during which it was uncertain whether the health of the body of water would ever restore. The wellbeing of the Thames, often confusingly good and bad at the same time (as depicted in The Thames, absolutely filthy yet still being utilized by high society), represents the great city of London. The Thames River was a fascinating class excursion to take, as we were able to float down a piece of London that has been intertwined into every triumph, decline and the in-between, that this city has experienced.
(Tissot's The Thames, 1876)
(Tissot's The Thames, 1876)
Hi Alana,
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed the trip along the Thames and the unique view it gave us of the city. Like you said, it was really interesting to travel down the epicenter of the city, catching glimpses of what London would have looked like in the 1800’s. I find it interesting how you pointed out the many tours and restaurants that operate on the Thames since this began to occur with a greater frequency after the Thames had began to be cleaned; before that it would have been intolerable to eat along the same river waste is dumped into, even though as depicted in The Thames it was done. I thought your point about the rise of the British Empire being dependent on the Thames was interesting, and your point about the grime of the river is also very apt for that period. However, despite the nastiness, the city continued to use the river to expand and assert themselves globally, which draws an interesting parallel to British empire rising to become a world power, even over all the grime of colonization. I definitely think the River Thames has a lot to teach visitors to London and I am very pleased that we were able to experience it first hand.