The Thames Estuary

The River Thames is the longest river entirely in England, stretching 215 miles (346 km). It has always been important as an economic resource, a water highway, a boundary, a fresh water source; a source of food and more recently a leisure facility. But it has not always been a pleasent river to be near. In 1957 the National History Museum declared the River Thames as biologically dead. How bad was it?

On September 3, 1878, The Princess Alice, a passenger paddle steamer set off on the "Moonlight Trip" from Swan Pier near London Bridge to Gravesend and Sheerness. At around 7.40pm, as the steamer was approaching the North Woolwich Pier, the half way point in its journey and where many passengers were to disembark, she collided with the Newcastle bound vessel SS Bywell Castle and split into two.