Today was the annual total closure of the Thames Barrier which also coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Barrier in 1984. Every year the barrier is closed during low tide to test the gates. It was quite a journey to get to the Barrier by rail, tube, bus and foot. However, this was my first visit and it was amazing. By the time we arrived all the gates were fully raised and a few minutes after our arrival the ‘underspill’ started attracting hundreds of seabirds on the upstream side of the Barrier.
This is the downstream side of the Barrier which continues for 30 miles to the open sea. It was like a mill pond, so still, creating excellent reflections. One of the Environment Agency staff wrote on ‘Twitter’ that he has never seen it this calm before.
@pixiemac@pamknowler I was so impressed by the Barrier and how welcoming all the EA staff were on this day. This was my first visit but we could well be back as it was so busy it was difficult to see all of the visitors centre. I also want to have a ride on the cable car across the river from the O2 centre.
