Schools Pages
On these pages, you'll find:
Information on "The
River for Life" project, how your class
can help, what happens to the information collected,
and will it help back at school?
TET River Sites
Information about Chiswick, Southwark and Vauxhall
and their history.
School survey findings,
comparative tables showing species found on school
visits to TET river sites, and links to individual
school pages.
Methodology A note
on how the survey work is carried out.
River for Life
What is the "River for
Life"?
On your river visit, your class will have the
opportunity to take part in a unique project:
the River for Life. This project aims to involve
Londoners of all ages in discovering the "rhythms
of the river"; how the river changes over
time and what river animals tell us about those
changes.
How can your class help?
Your class, armed with nets and plastic spoons,
will complete a simple biodiversity survey at
their site. It will be as easy as turning over
stones and riverdipping, so please make sure everyone
is dressed accordingly. The river creatures found
will be identified and counted before being put
back in the river. Don't worry if you're not an
animal expect, TET staff will help identify any
mysterious creatures your class find. And we do
have friends at the Environment Agency who help
to identify the creatures that puzzle even us!
What happens to the information
collected?
All the data you class collects will be of great
use after your visit. TET will input the data
into Recorder 2000, a national biodiversity database,
where it can be used by scientists at the Environment
Agency and other organisations who study the Thames.
In short, the information your class collects
will help decide the future of the river Thames!
Will it help back at school?
Also, the information collected will be put on
our website, www.thames-explorer.org.uk. Your
class will have their own sub-page so they can
view their results. They can also take a look
at what other classes have found at the same,
or different, sites. The website also contains
information about the Thames in general and the
threats that is faces. It's a perfect stop for
pre visit information and activities. And if your
class gets really excited about helping the river,
TET can help to find a "pen pal" class
in your local area or even in another country!
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TET Site Info &
history
Learn more about TET's educational Thames
river sites.
Chiswick
Vauxhall
Southwark
Chiswick
Rich in local history and river wildlife and with
excellent river access, Chiswick is an ideal place
to investigate magic of the Thames. Chiswick pier
allows us to get right onto the river during low
or high tide while the two drawdocks allow groups
to venture onto the foreshore. Chiswick Eyot (island)
is accessible at low tide. Here we can see reed
beds, oisers (used for basket making), evidence
of erosion and examples of erosion prevention.
It is a great place to spot river birds and collect
invertebrates. There are excellent examples of
local flood defences along the river. Residents
along Chiswick Mall are not protected by flood
walls so have had to come up with clever solutions
to protect their houses and property from river
flooding.
Local History
Chiswick grew up as a fishing village around St.
Nicholas church (the patron saint of fishermen
and sailors). For centuries the waterfront and
foreshore of old Chiswick has been used by fishermen
and watermen. Canterbury Pilgrims were said to
have forded the river at Chiswick, impossible
now as the river is much deeper.
Barges delivering goods to riverside
businesses and the surrounding area were a common
sight along the foreshore until the 20th century.
Thorneycroft, a ship building company, was established
in Chiswick in 1864. They built steam launches,
river steamers, torpedo boats and destroyers,
but were forced to move to Southampton in 1904
as ships became too large to move out of the Chiswick
site.
By the early Victorian period
fishing in Chiswick was falling into decay. Increased
industry and the invention of the flush toilet
were causing pollution in the river, while dredging
and embankment activities were changing river
habitat. Fish began to die out and the river became
unsuitable as a spawning ground. Locks upstream
also made the river unsuitable for migratory fish
such as salmon and shad.
Today, Chiswick is primarily a residential area.
People come here to enjoy the beauty and tranquillity
of the river. River wildlife is once again abundant
thanks to improvements and regulations on river
pollution and river altering activities.
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Vauxhall
Vauxhall is a quiet, but interesting site with
views of some of London's most interesting buildings
(MI6 and Tate Britain). Also at Vauxhall is the
outfall for the River Effra, one of London's "Lost
Rivers" which has been covered over to provide
more building land. The foreshore, which contains
stretches of rocks and small pools is accessible
down a large drawdock. The rocky areas are perfect
for archaeological hunts, particularly remnants
from the old Dalton factory that was located nearby.
The small pools that form on the foreshore are
home to river wildlife
Local History
Vauxhall remained a quiet village throughout the
18th century until it was integrated into the
ever expanding streets of Lambeth. Before the
expansion, Vauxhall was most famous for its gardens.
These pleasure gardens, which had free admission,
were opened in 1660 and could only be reached
by water until the opening of Westminster Bridge
in 1750. The gardens were a famous gathering place
for the rich and famous, who attended balls, parties
and other social and cultural events in the grounds.
The decline of the gardens began in 1840 when
the owners went bankrupt and the gardens were
auctioned. Today, the gardens are streets and
houses and its managers are commemorated by street
names in the Vauxhall area.
In 1816 Regents Bridge was built
and was the first iron bridge over the Thames.
In 1895 the bridge was replaced by the present
Vauxhall Bridge and was the first London bridge
to carry trams. Vauxhall suffered heavy bombing
in WWII because of its proximity to major road
and rail networks into central London.
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Southwark
Southwark is a perfect place to mix river studies
with a glimpse into London's past. The site offers
the unique opportunity to take part in fieldwork
in the centre of London and offers not only wildlife
exploration, but an introduction to archaeology
as well. Bankside Pier is used for initial observations,
and then the river walk helps us to understand
the landscape of the past and how the riverside
has changed. Sets of Waterman's steps lead down
onto the foreshore. The foreshore itself offers
a variety of habitats from mud to rocky substrate.
The proximity to various human activities through
the years also means that the foreshore is covered
in artefacts from London's past.
Local History
Archaeological evidence shows occupation of Southwark
from as early as 5000BC. When the Romans first
visited the south side of the Thames, they found
three sandy islands bordered by a riverside of
mud and marsh. They connected the islands by a
firm wooden surface and joined them to the rest
of Londinium by a wooden bridge. The bridge remained
after the Romans had left, until it was pulled
down in 1014 by the Olaf of Norway (ally to the
King of England) to protect the rest of London
from the invading Danes. A stone London Bridge
was rebuilt in medieval times and lasted for 600
years as the only passing point over the Thames.
The riverside area of Bankside
remained a quiet place of fields and marshes with
only the palace of the Bishops of Winchester and
the abbey of St Mary Overie built on the riverside,
until the 1580s. Then the London theatres sprang
up , where Shakespeare wrote and acted and Bankside
became "the very hub of noisy revelling Elizabethan
life." Bankside was free of the city's laws
and control, and by 1623 there were four theatres,
bear baiting and bull baiting rings and cockpits,
as well as twenty brothels.
Southwark reached its peak as
a commercial centre during the Victorian era.
Docks, warehouses and wharves grew rapidly and
new wider-arched bridges allowed barges to travel
up the river, bringing with them goods from all
over the world. Many of the warehouses were concentrated
on Tooley Street, which became known as "London's
Larder". These important docks and warehouses
were heavily bombed during WWII and of those that
survived, most were closed in the 1970s.
Since the 1980s, Southwark, especially
the riverfront and Bankside has undergone a successful
regeneration. The area is now home to residential
and office buildings, pubs and restaurants, as
well as popular tourist attractions and cultural
hot spots, including The Globe and Tate Modern.
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School's
River for Life Surveys Comparative tables
showing species found on school visits to TET
river sites, and links to individual school pages.
If your school visited us last year why not have
a look at our archive to see what they found.
Methodology
River For Life school surveys* usually involve
classes of approximately 25 pupils and 5 adults.
They spend roughly 30 minutes looking for fish
and invertebrates during low tide with the aid
of small dip nets (aquarium nets), kick sample
nets and by turning over stones.
*Please note:
Most species counts above 10 are estimates. Counts
are entered as "exact" or "estimates"
on our survey sheets and in our database. Leeches,
snails and mayfly nymphs are not identified to
species. We have classified all the species that
fall under each of these taxon as one species
for the purpose of this survey. Therefore, a survey
group that finds 3 different leech species during
one visit would record all individuals under the
heading "Leech" and this would count
as one species for our species diversity count.
We have chosen this method due to the novice level
of many school groups to identify organisms to
the species level.
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