Downstream

arriving here in 2006, having
swum from Lechlade, it was
definitely a high point. ‘The
Thames gradually descends;
the source is only 110 metres
above sea level and it has a
long way to slowly descend
across fields and meadows to
the North Sea. It’s not like the
Ganges, for example, which
descends from high in the
Himalayas and on either side
there are valleys, glaciers and
temples. I was struck by the