Downstream

Thomas also enjoyed
swimming near Kingston. He
was born in 1931 and, after
being orphaned at twelve,
spent his adolescence at a
Barnardo’s home known as
‘Dickies’ in Kingston upon
Thames. ‘The river was like a
bale of silk unwinding,’ he
later wrote, ‘thick and smooth
and quickly it ran like it
always does when the water
is warm. We swam for an
hour or more until the river