1936 On the Continent

beside the river for 135 miles, with the certainty of finding a welcoming inn at convenient intervals along the whole route.
    The first Thames-side resort of importance up-stream from London is Richmond, always a busy place where there is a continual traffic of rowboats, barges, steamers and tugs passing. The terraces of the
White Hart
and the
Castle
are excellent vantage points from which to enjoy the scene.
    After Richmond comes Twickenham, still retaining much of the quiet elegance of two centuries ago, when Horace Walpole, Dr. Johnson, Reynolds, Addison, Pope and Gay, and a host of frail and frilled Georgian beauties, strolled in the summer sunshine beside the cool river.
Eel Pie Island
    Eel Pie Island, once the scene of the gourmandising orgies which gave it its name, lies in the stream off Twickenham’s pleasant frontage of Georgian architecture. It is now a popular lido, where beneath striped umbrellas you may sit and watch the exuberant beauty of streamlined bathing belles and listen to crooners and saxophonists.
    Along the 6 mile stretch from Twickenham to Hampton Court the Thames is notably charming. Many old-world houses line its banks, their velvet green lawns running down to the waterside; and from Ditton Ferry to the bend where the first Tudor towers of historic Hampton Court come into view, the left shores of the river are lined with houseboats.
Hampton Court
    Hampton Court Palace, which Cardinal Wolsey built for himself and had to “present,” very unwillingly, to Henry the Eighth, is probably the finest “sight” along the Thames. Unlike Windsor, it is always open to the public, and its wonderful mellow Tudor brickwork and the spacious beauty of its gardens beside the river make it a favourite terminal point for a day’s river excursion from London. The best way to enjoy Hampton Court is to go out by electric train from Waterloo station and come back in the late afternoon and early evening by river steamer.
    In the gardens is the famous Maze, down whose narrow yew-edged alleys, it is said, Henry the Eighth plunged hugely and amorously in pursuit of the impudent fleeing figure of Ann Boleyn; and at the bridge-head stands the
Mitre Inn
, an historic hostelry with some fine panelling and delightful river views from its windows.
    From Hampton Court, as one proceeds up river, the Thames becomes increasingly attractive. Sunbury, Walton, Halliford and Shepperton succeed each other like beads on a string—pleasant, quiet places where the boats glide smoothly and men contentedly sit along the banks with their fishing-rods bowed out over the water. Then comes Chertsey, Staines and Egham, the last small Thames-side towns before Windsor dominates the landscape.
Windsor Castle
    The shortest approach to Windsor Castle from the river is by the Hundred Steps, which ascend from the flamboyant monument to Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, at the corner of Thames Street, not far from where the steamers berth.
    One should go to the top of the Round Tower, the great central fortification of the castle, for the view from the ramparts is extraordinarily fine. The Thames can be seen winding for mile after mile like a silver ribbon through the restful landscape of meadows and woods. The galleries of the State Apartments of the castle contain some priceless treasures of the work of Rubens, Van Dyck and Rembrandt.
Maidenhead
    Maidenhead, the most famous riverside town immediately above Windsor, is one of the high-spots of the Thames. Almost every building within fifty yards of the water is a fashionable club or hotel. At Skindles, the Riviera and the Thames, you may watch the glittering stage stars of London sway romantically in the waltz on an open-air dance floor whose shimmering boards seem to merge with the water of the river flowing so softly alongside. Coloured lights are festooned between the trees; punts lie moored conveniently at hand. Your dance over, you may step into your waiting craft and drift with your partner, as in a gondola upon the canals of Venice, along the moonlit Thames. For all this, of course, the prices are pitched accordingly. But thousands of people think it is worth it. And if you are unattached and under forty and have the means—well, it probably is.
Above Maidenhead
    At Maidenhead is Boulter’s Lock, the most famous on the river. In the height of the season a thousand small craft are manœuvred through the lock in the course of a day. Once through the lock you are in