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106-640: The Garden Bridge project was an unsuccessful private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Originally an idea of Joanna Lumley , and strongly supported by then- Mayor of London Boris Johnson , the designer Thomas Heatherwick worked with Arup Group on a proposal by Transport for London (TfL) for a new bridge across the Thames between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge . The proposed concrete, steel, cupronickel clad structure

212-597: A registered charity (charity registration number 1155246) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, and with an exemption from use of the term "Limited", was to own the bridge, as private space in the public realm. The company was incorporated on 30 October 2013 under reference 08755461. Lord Davies of Abersoch is chairman of the trust and a director of the limited company. The bridge would have been 366 metres (1,201 ft) long and 30 metres (98 ft) across at its widest point. It would have run from

318-400: A video surveillance system and security staff known as "visitor hosts" who would have limited policing powers under a Community Safety Accreditation Scheme , including the right to issue fines. The rules of the bridge were to prohibit "any exercise other than jogging, playing a musical instrument, taking part in a 'gathering of any kind', giving a speech or address, scattering ashes, releasing

424-453: A balloon and flying a kite." The bridge's private owners claimed that conditions would be "similar" to those of the Royal Parks . At a meeting at City Hall on 17 December 2015, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London said, in defence of the project, "It's important that we don't rest on our laurels, but continue to adorn the city with things that will attract visitors … and to get it done within

530-573: A costs agreement with TfL which included a repayment schedule. On 26 July 2016, the BBC reported that the project had run into financial trouble and that the Garden Bridge Trust was seeking an extension of a £15m underwriting of the project: "tough questions are being asked in Whitehall about the footbridge and its public value". The additional assurance of the underwriting extension was needed in order for

636-503: A detailed report on the irregularities in the procurement leading to the appointment of Arup Group and Thomas Heatherwick by Transport for London; the report concluded that an independent investigation would be appropriate before the public made any further financial commitment to the project. On 8 March 2016, the Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands wrote in defence of the bridge: a whopping £85 million had been privately donated;

742-521: A four-year mayoralty is a very challenging thing." During the 2016–2017 review conducted by Dame Margaret Hodge for the Mayor of London, the only parties to express support for the bridge were Boris Johnson, the Garden Bridge Trust (the prospective owner of the bridge) itself and the Evening Standard while, on the other hand, "hostility" to the bridge was "substantial". By August 2016, the proposed cost of

848-503: A network of creeks. Lying below sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times. The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994 ). This is about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of the village of Kemble in southern Gloucestershire , near the town of Cirencester , in the Cotswolds . However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham , where

954-507: A period of 50 years as a loan. Further, the City of Westminster granted planning permission conditionally upon provision of a guarantee of maintenance costs. The Greater London Authority initially indicated willingness to underwrite those maintenance costs, estimated at a minimum of £2m a year, in perpetuity. In June 2013, the Commissioner of Transport for London , Sir Peter Hendy had stated that

1060-576: A review of the Garden Bridge's Draft Operations and Maintenance Business Plan. Anderson's report concluded that "After detailed analysis of the Operations and Maintenance Business Plan it is this author's considered opinion that the basic business model is flawed and the Business Plan targets are optimistic at best, but more likely unachievable". On 11 July 2016, the BBC reported that preparatory work for

1166-449: A rise and fall of 23 ft (7 m). From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by 55 metres (180 ft). Running through some of the drier parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames' discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin . In Scotland ,

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1272-567: A summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London . After the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the Thames Estuary and the Thames Valley in London were partly covered in marshland , as was the adjoining Lower Lea Valley . Streams and rivers like the River Lea , Tyburn Brook and Bollo Brook drained into

1378-511: A variation of the lease on the South Bank, was dismissed in September 2016. On 25 September 2015, Lambeth Council suspended negotiations with the Garden Bridge Trust over the terms of the lease, which would be required at the South Bank end of the bridge. Lambeth's position was that funds for the bridge should not be provided by Transport for London, that the £30m of funding from Transport for London

1484-623: Is a promenade located on the southern bank of the River Thames in London , England , between Lambeth Bridge and Tower Bridge . The creation of pedestrian access along the south bank of the Thames was seen as an integral part of the creation of the Jubilee Walkway to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. However, the last section was not established until the completion of construction of London Bridge City c.1990. In 1996,

1590-466: Is a landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centre of a view from Richmond Hill . Islands of historical interest include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede , Fry's Island at Reading, and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB)s were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with

1696-402: Is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas. Brooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3,842 sq mi (9,951 km ), combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock . This

1802-628: Is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river. Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography ( c.  AD 700 ). The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/ ; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis . A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see Kingston upon Thames § Early history ),

1908-591: Is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as "liquid history". Two broad canals link the river to other rivers: the Kennet and Avon Canal ( Reading to Bath ) and

2014-678: Is found in Magna Carta . The Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis . Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label

2120-473: Is possible that the government will be approached for extra funding should the Trust face a funding shortfall. The project has faced cost increases and delays to the schedule. The pattern of behaviour outlined in this report is one in which the Trust has repeatedly approached the government to release more of its funding for pre-construction activities when it encounters challenges. The Department, in turn, has agreed to

2226-452: Is responsible for managing the flow of water to help prevent and mitigate flooding, and providing for navigation: the volume and speed of water downstream is managed by adjusting the sluices at each of the weirs and, at peak high water, levels are generally dissipated over preferred flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally, flooding of inhabited areas is unavoidable and the agency issues flood warnings. Due to stiff penalties applicable on

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2332-898: Is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall , several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire , the Tavy on Dartmoor , the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales , the Teviot in the Scottish Borders and a Thames tributary, the Thame . Kenneth H. Jackson proposed that the name of

2438-404: Is the usual tidal limit ; however, high spring tides can raise the head water level in the reach above Teddington and can occasionally reverse the river flow for a short time. In these circumstances, tidal effects can be observed upstream to the next lock beside Molesey weir , which is visible from the towpath and bridge beside Hampton Court Palace . Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810–12,

2544-769: The Berwyn Mountains in North Wales . About 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme Ice Age of the Pleistocene , the Anglian , the furthest southern extent of the ice sheet reached Hornchurch in east London, the Vale of St Albans, and the Finchley Gap . It dammed the river in Hertfordshire , resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused

2650-525: The British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000-year record of sea-level change. Combined, this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more than 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when

2756-562: The Churn (which feeds into the Thames near Cricklade ) rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is farthest from the mouth and adds some 14 mi (23 km) to the river's length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin hexameter inscription "Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons", which means "Here, O Father Thames, [is] your sevenfold source". The springs at Seven Springs flow throughout

2862-664: The Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud ), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton , which operated until 1871 (to

2968-599: The North Sea near Tilbury , Essex and Gravesend , Kent, via the Thames Estuary . From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading , Henley-on-Thames and Windsor . The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London . The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway , derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock . Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has

3074-480: The River Lea can be considered another boundary. Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution . Canvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km , 7.12 sq mi; population 40,000 ) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, separated from the mainland of south Essex by

3180-640: The Royal Academy , London , in 1785. They are now on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley). Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called * (p)lowonida . This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium , from the Indo-European roots * pleu- "flow" and * -nedi "river" meaning something like

3286-474: The Tay achieves more than double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs . Its catchment area covers a large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50 named tributaries . The river contains over 80 islands . With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater,

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3392-497: The Thames Barrier , which protects central London from flooding by storm surges . Below the barrier, the river passes Woolwich , Thamesmead , Dagenham , Erith , Purfleet , Dartford , West Thurrock , Northfleet , Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea . The sea level in the Thames estuary is rising and the rate of rise is increasing. Sediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by

3498-535: The Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch. Until around 500,000 years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire , before turning to the north-east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near present-day Ipswich . At this time the river-system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from

3604-507: The 1960s as a living memorial to London's war dead. The bridge was to have been planted with some 270 immature trees. In order to limit the wind loading on the bridge structure the trees would have been maintained by pruning so that they never exceeded a height of 15 m (49 ft) at the bridge piers and 2 m (6 ft 7 in) near the bridge landings. Dan Pearson was appointed as landscape designer. Before granting planning permission, Westminster City Council raised concerns that

3710-447: The Garden Bridge Trust had raised some £69.5 million ("call it £70 million") of private funds in addition to £60 million of public funds. Some who had offered funding had never entered into legally binding commitments to pay and "one or two" had withdrawn from the project. Further, delays in the project now meant that the costs had risen to £185 million and that the bridge would not be completed before 2019. The figures of increased cost and

3816-534: The Garden Bridge Trust to complete and file its statutory accounts, due on 31 July 2016. However, on Friday 29 July 2016, the last day on which it could validly do so, the Garden Bridge Trust changed its accounting reference date so as to extend its accounting period from 31 October 2015 to 31 March 2016, a further five months, postponing its obligation to file any accounts. On 8 August 2016, the National Audit Office formally announced that during Autumn 2016 it

3922-482: The Mayor of London was published in April 2017. It found that: there had been multiple failings from the start; the business case for construction of the bridge was weak; the purpose of the bridge was confused and unclear; the Garden Bridge Trust had raised only £69m in private pledges of funding; the final cost if built would now exceed £200m of capital expenditure, excluding the amount of any possible endowment for maintenance;

4028-545: The National Audit Office reported the results of its inquiries into the £30 million funding provided for the Garden Bridge by the Department for Transport. The report recorded that in the Department's assessment of the original business case for the Bridge there was seen to be a significant risk that the project could represent poor value for money but the Department agreed to make the £30 million contribution anyway. The manner in which

4134-708: The North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk. The Nore is the sandbank that marks the mouth of the Thames Estuary , where the outflow from the Thames meets the North Sea . It is roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority. As

4240-594: The River Thames on the Tideway include the rivers Crane , Brent , Wandle , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea (the final part of which is called Bow Creek ), Roding (Barking Creek), Darent and Ingrebourne . In London, the water is slightly brackish with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water. This part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from

4346-473: The Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea . Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi (26 km) upstream. London, capital of Roman Britain , was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. A river crossing

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4452-517: The Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis , the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer are located on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at

4558-488: The Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Britons and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā- , 'melt'. Early variants of the name include: Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made [this]). It

4664-873: The Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest , with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 20.4 sq mi (5,289 ha). According to Mallory and Adams, the Thames, from Middle English Temese , is derived from the Brittonic name for the river, Tamesas (from * tamēssa ), recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name element Tam may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно ( Proto-Slavic * tĭmĭnŭ ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and Welsh tywyll "darkness" and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey". The origin

4770-452: The Treasury and Transport for London had come up with £60 million and fundraising continues for the final £30 million. Construction will soon begin. Yet there is a small but determined opposition to the project, mostly from Labour, which continues to undermine it. In the 17 months to 31 March 2016, the Garden Bridge Trust spent over £26 million, 80% of which was funded by Transport for London. In

4876-517: The Trust's requests. On 28 February 2017, the Charity Commission published a Case Report which commented on the financial management of the Trust. The Charity Commission concluded that trustees had been meeting their duties and were acting in compliance with charity law; there was no concern about the management of conflicts of interest; the charity's financial management met required standards; trustees provided strategic leadership and direction to

4982-507: The Waterloo Community Development Group, with the support of local opposition group Thames Central Open Spaces. On 21 April 2015, permission was granted by The Hon. Mr Justice Ouseley for a full judicial review of Lambeth's decision to grant planning permission on the grounds that the impact of views on heritage assets (particularly Somerset House ) had not been properly considered, and Lambeth had not adequately ensured

5088-403: The basis of the Garden Bridge Trust's own evidence, that the cost would be over £200m. If built, it was proposed that the bridge would have been open from 6am to midnight, with closures for the preparation for and holding of up to 12 private commercial events per year to raise funds for its maintenance. A planning condition required annual maintenance costs to be guaranteed by a third party and it

5194-452: The bridge had been halted to allow City Hall to review the finances. Sadiq Khan said that no more public money would be spent on the bridge. The halted work would have cost £3m for infrastructure preparation in the Tube station at Temple on the north bank of the Thames so that the bridge structure could be built on its roof. A Garden Bridge Trust spokesman said that the Garden Bridge Trust had signed

5300-513: The bridge had risen to £185 million, from the original estimate of £60m. When first promoted, it was claimed that the project would be financed entirely from private sources, but a total of £60m towards the capital cost was then committed from public funds, with £30m pledged from Transport for London (TfL) funds by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and £30m pledged by HM Treasury . It was then agreed in November 2015 that £20m of TfL funds would be repaid over

5406-464: The bridge would cause "significant harm" to a number of protected views from Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge , and the South Bank, but concluded that new views from the garden bridge would outweigh the damage caused. The bridge's proposed private owners claimed however that English Heritage stated in an assessment that "the Bridge would be as a picturesque incident in the riverscape….its low slung and restrained architecture and engineering will change

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5512-463: The bridge would have added another 3.5 million visitors a year, an 18% increase on 2014 numbers. In 2014, critics of the project began campaigning to have it brought under judicial review or another appeal process through the secretary of state. In November 2015, planning documents for the bridge revealed that public access to the bridge was to be controlled, including the use of the tracking of visitors' mobile phone signals to guard against overcrowding,

5618-695: The case of the Colne ), and man-made distributaries such as the Longford River . Three canals intersect this stretch: the Oxford Canal , Kennet and Avon Canal and Wey Navigation . Its longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River , was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002. The non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency , which

5724-440: The character of views but not cause harm to the setting of, and views to and from historic assets." In November 2014, it was claimed that the bridge would be off limits to groups of eight or more people and to cyclists. The Garden Bridge Trust later said that groups of eight or more would not be banned and cyclists would be allowed to use the bridge, if they were to dismount and push their cycles. The bridge would have been open to

5830-444: The charity and its staff to help it deliver its purpose; trustees understood their roles and duties and responsibilities as trustees; the Commission saw evidence of robust and informed decision-making. Arrangements to award contracts since the charity had been formed appear to have been robust. There was evidence of significant trustee engagement and some benchmarking of hourly rates and materials. However, trustees did not fully explore

5936-411: The closure of five Lancashire museums – two of which are nationally important – and 40 libraries. Jack described the bridge as unwanted and unnecessary and the closures as "cultural disembowelment". He asked whether a meeting between Joanna Lumley, a friend of designer Thomas Heatherwick and Boris Johnson had played a part. Jane Duncan , president of the Royal Institute of British Architects requested

6042-423: The confluence, the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, at 229 mi (369 km), is greater than the Severn's length of 220 mi (350 km). Thus, the "Churn/Thames" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. The stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in

6148-420: The cost of the project which was being met by funds (£30m) from the Department for Transport. In January 2017, the trustees of the Garden Bridge Trust (the limited company behind the project) said they were unable to conclude that the trust was a going concern. In February 2017, the Charity Commission for England and Wales found the financial management of the trust to be satisfactory, albeit with criticisms as to

6254-400: The event of closure. The full planning applications for the project were submitted to Westminster and Lambeth Councils on 30 May 2014, and it was originally intended, subject to receiving planning permission and raising the necessary funds, that construction of the bridge would start in 2015 and be completed by 2018. The planning application was approved by Lambeth Council (local authority on

6360-412: The flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. The river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley , a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway ; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from

6466-408: The funding was provided, by block grant to Transport for London left the Department with limited oversight of its own support to the Garden Bridge Trust. This arrangement simplified the Trust's access to public funding through a single source but it also made TfL responsible for assuring and overseeing all of the £60 million public funding and for ensuring value for money for taxpayers' investment. There

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6572-533: The grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood . The Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes , Cricklade , Lechlade , Oxford , Abingdon-on-Thames , Wallingford , Goring-on-Thames and Streatley (at the Goring Gap ), Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames , Reading , Wargrave , Henley-on-Thames , Marlow , Maidenhead , Windsor and Eton , Staines-upon-Thames and Egham , Chertsey , Shepperton , Weybridge , Sunbury-on-Thames , Walton-on-Thames , Molesey and Thames Ditton . The river

6678-404: The ice melt nearly concluded over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century, rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year. The Thames River Basin District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6,229 sq mi (16,130 km ). The entire river basin is a mixture of urban and rural, with rural landscape predominating in

6784-416: The impresario Fred Karno and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East's R&B music scene. Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament ) were built on Thorney Island , which used to be an eyot . Researchers have identified the River Thames as a discrete drainage line flowing as early as 58 million years ago, in

6890-467: The land needed to construct the southern approaches, was also required for the bridge's construction. In March 2016, in "a last ditch" attempt to stop the bridge, local politicians wrote to the housing trust urging it to refuse permission, although the housing trust indicated that it was not in a position to oppose the decisions of elected governments. The planning permission for the bridge had been due to expire in December 2017. Margaret Hodge's report for

6996-417: The land on either side of the river, despite signing a contract for construction of the bridge in January 2016. In September 2016, Sadiq Khan , Mayor of London, announced a formal review by Margaret Hodge of the procurement processes in relation to the bridge project and its value for money. In October 2016, the National Audit Office reported on procurement issues and perceived value for money for that part of

7102-439: The mayor's refusal had the effect of ending the project. On 14 August 2017 after months of uncertainty the Garden Bridge Trust entirely abandoned the project. The BBC London transport correspondent Tom Edwards described the situation as a shambles which was "an embarrassing mess for the capital ... already descend[ing] into finger pointing and a blame game over who is culpable for wasting £46.4m of public money". In February 2019 it

7208-426: The non-tidal river, which is a drinking water source before treatment, sanitary sewer overflow from the many sewage treatment plants covering the upper Thames basin should be rare in the non-tidal Thames. However, storm sewage overflows are still common in almost all the main tributaries of the Thames despite claims by Thames Water to the contrary. Below Teddington Lock (about 55 mi or 89 km upstream of

7314-473: The ongoing maintenance of the bridge. However, it was agreed the case should be dismissed after Lambeth and the trust agreed to enter into a planning obligation requiring the trust to submit a plan for the maintenance of the bridge for approval by the Council, and to provide a surety or guarantor for the trust's ongoing maintenance obligations. The Greater London Authority has guaranteed the maintenance costs. A second judicial review, of Lambeth's decision to allow

7420-447: The opportunities to compare the critical paths of other comparable infrastructure projects and thus better enable themselves to assess project risk. The Commission went on to comment that the charity's accounts had been filed and had identified ongoing uncertainty over whether the charity was a going concern. The Commission considered that, given the public interest, the trustees could have provided more detail in their annual report about

7526-457: The procurement process for the bridge. In May 2016, he published a draft version of the Garden Bridge Trust business case for the bridge which showed that donations to the Trust from unnamed private companies, organisations and individuals totalled £83.1 million, representing the privately pledged money; this included £43.75m from donors who chose to remain anonymous. London Assembly Member Tom Copley called for transparency on private donations to

7632-465: The progress made, given the expenditure incurred and the challenges addressed. The charity held no reserves but expected to meet any obligations from the use of its restricted funds. Given the reliance on using restricted funds the Commission would have expected a fuller description of how these funds, including the guarantee, could be used with greater detail on how the charity would meet its liabilities in

7738-448: The project as "a landmark of the post-truth era" and a vanity project by Boris Johnson. In response to the Hodge report, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan , Johnson's successor, announced on 28 April 2017 that he would not provide a guarantee for the future running costs of the bridge, due to concerns about the project's financial viability. Since the guarantee was a condition of planning permission,

7844-451: The project be put on hold pending an investigation of the tendering process for the appointments of Heatherwick Studio and Arup. Ian Jack followed up in May with another article calling the bridge an oddity born of the " chumocracy ", and correspondents from outside London were equally scathing. On 16 February 2016, Walter Menteth of Project Compass CIC, a procurement intelligence service, published

7950-635: The project was controversial and unpopular and the Garden Bridge Trust was unlikely to be able to raise the money, and that taxpayers should accept the loss of public money already spent that would result from cancelling the project and avoid further waste of public funds. She also concluded that the appointments in 2013 of Heatherwick Studio (for design and consulting services) and Arup (for engineering and project management services) "were not open, fair or competitive procurements … and [her review had] revealed systematic failures and ineffective control systems at many levels". Architecture critic Rowan Moore described

8056-406: The project, asking if donations had been received from companies which may benefit or have benefited from Transport for London contracts. The Charity Commission case report published on 28 February 2017 subsequently found that the processes for awarding of contracts were robust, and that benefactors were not party to contracts made by the charity. In July 2016, Dan Anderson of Fourth Street published

8162-540: The public for 18 hours each day, closing between midnight and 6am. The draft business plan allowed the Garden Bridge Trust to close the bridge for up to 12 days a year for commercial events. Further, the charity proposed to rent the rooftop of the bridge's South Bank landing podium for commercial purposes on every weekend between May and October. Nine bridges already span the two miles (3.2 km) between Westminster Bridge and London Bridge , seven of which can be crossed on foot. Projections of visitor numbers suggested that

8268-574: The public would meet no more than the "enabling costs" of the project of £4m. Nevertheless, the financial chief for Transport for London considered the proposed bridge extremely expensive when compared with other crossings on the Thames. For example, the Millennium Bridge had cost only £22m. Writing in The Guardian in February 2016, Ian Jack contrasted the £60m taxpayer support for the project with

8374-433: The reduction in funds raised, together with the longer timescale, were then confirmed by the Garden Bridge Trust. In September 2016, the Mayor of London announced a formal review into project's finances and value for money. Dame Margaret Hodge conducted an inquiry into the planned structure. The mayor's office said she would investigate whether value for money had been achieved from the taxpayers' contribution and investigate

8480-629: The river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall , and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London . At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark , on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey . Beyond central London, the river passes Bermondsey , Wapping , Shadwell , Limehouse , Rotherhithe , Millwall , Deptford , Greenwich , Cubitt Town , Blackwall , New Charlton and Silvertown , before flowing through

8586-477: The river to divert onto its present course through the area of present-day London. The ice lobe which stopped at present-day Finchley deposited about 14 metres of boulder clay there. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process. The Queen%27s Walk (South Bank) The Queen's Walk

8692-439: The river was tidal at peak spring tides as far as Staines upon Thames . In descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the Churn , Leach , Cole , Ray , Coln , Windrush , Evenlode , Cherwell , Ock , Thame , Pang , Kennet , Loddon , Colne , Wey and Mole . In addition, there are occasional backwaters and artificial cuts that form islands, distributaries (most numerous in

8798-588: The river, covering three counties . In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of Thames Valley University , Thames Water , Thames Television , publishing company Thames & Hudson , Thameslink (north–south rail service passing through central London ) and South Thames College . An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company . Marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain , are visible at various points along

8904-451: The river, while some islands, e.g. Thorney Island , formed over the ages. The northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth , for example, was marshland known as Lambeth Marshe , but it was drained in the 18th century; the street names Lower Marsh and Upper Marsh preserve a memory. Until the middle of the Victorian era, malaria was commonplace beside the River Thames, even in London, and

9010-515: The river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills , as well as prehistoric burial mounds . The lower Thames in the Roman era was a shallow waterway winding through marshes. But centuries of human intervention have transformed it into a deep tidal canal flowing between 200 miles of solid walls; these defend a floodplain where 1.5 million people work and live. A major maritime route

9116-530: The roof of Temple tube station at the foot of Arundel Street on the north bank to Queen's Walk on the South Bank , next to ITV 's London Studios , where a public green open space would have been sacrificed and built upon to provide a commercial building associated with the bridge, with removal of some 28 mature trees. The new building would have housed a combination of public toilets, maintenance facilities, and operational areas, together with an events space which

9222-555: The same period, the group raised £13 million in new private donations. However, the project's financing status deteriorated. During the same period in which the project's cost estimate was revised upward from £60 million to over £200 million (as of April 2017), the Garden Bridge Trust lost two major donors, causing a reduction in private funding pledges to £69 million. No new pledges had been obtained since August 2016. Sadiq Khan, who had been elected Mayor of London in May 2016, undertook an investigation of Johnson's decisions in relation to

9328-600: The sandbank was a major hazard for shipping coming in and out of London, in 1732 it received the world's first lightship . This became a major landmark, and was used as an assembly point for shipping. Today it is marked by Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy. The River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all

9434-528: The south coast), and the Wilts & Berks Canal . Rowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race , while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games : 1908 ( rowing ) and 1948 ( rowing and canoeing ). Safe headwaters and reaches are

9540-412: The south side of the bridge), subject to conditions, in November 2014. Westminster City Council passed a plan for the bridge on 2 December 2014 by a vote of three to one. In December 2014, Boris Johnson approved the scheme to build the bridge, with construction then expected to start in 2015. In January 2015, a legal challenge of Lambeth's planning permission was brought by Michael Ball, former director of

9646-523: The trustees' approach. The subsequent report by Margaret Hodge MP was highly critical of the plan, its procurement, its cost, the risk to public funds, and lack of value for money. The Garden Bridge Trust formally announced on 14 August 2017 that it would be ending the project and that the Garden Bridge Trust itself would be wound up in accordance with the Companies Acts. The failed project cost £53m, including £43m of public money. The Garden Bridge Trust,

9752-701: The way from Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams. In the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the floodplain ( Seacourt Stream , Castle Mill Stream , Bulstake Stream and others), creating several islands ( Fiddler's Island , Osney and others). Desborough Island , Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot

9858-469: The western part. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs . The Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water, while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the overall catchment area. Groundwater

9964-533: The work of bodies such as Transport for London and the Greater London Authority. The Hodge Report was published in April 2017. In January 2017, the trustees of the Garden Bridge Trust stated that they expected the bridge's costs to "substantially exceed" the existing estimate of £185 million, and the Hodge Report in April 2017 stated that costs were estimated to be over £200 million. On 11 October 2016,

10070-566: The year, while those at Thames Head are seasonal (a winterbourne ). With a length of 215 mi (346 km), the Thames is the longest river entirely in England. (The longest river in the United Kingdom, the Severn , flows partly in Wales .) However, as the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi (23 km) longer than the section of the Thames from its traditional source at Thames Head to

10176-479: Was built at the site of London Bridge . London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide . High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as "the Tideway ". Tide tables are published by the Port of London Authority and are available online. Times of high and low tides are also posted on Twitter. The principal tributaries of

10282-504: Was expected that this would be the Greater London Authority . The annual maintenance costs were variously estimated at between £2m and £3.5m, before allowing for the repayment of loan capital and interest. In July 2016, preparatory work for the bridge was halted and the Garden Bridge Trust put contractors on standby to allow for a financial review and because they had not cleared outstanding issues such as securing legal rights to

10388-458: Was frequently lethal. Some cases continued to occur into the early 20th century. Draining of the marshes helped with its eradication, but the causes are complex and unclear. The East End of London , also known simply as the East End , was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries;

10494-457: Was from Transport for London (£20m of this to be repaid over 55 years) and £30m from the Department for Transport , adding up to projected funding of over £200m. In January 2017, the trustees of the prospective owner of the bridge, the Garden Bridge Trust, stated that costs would "substantially exceed" an earlier revised total of £185m and, in April 2017, a report by Margaret Hodge MP concluded, on

10600-454: Was initially a cap on the amount of the Department's funding that could be used by the Garden Bridge Trust for pre-construction activity, but this cap was relaxed on three separate occasions, on two of those occasions against the advice of civil servants and on one of them by way of formal Ministerial Direction from the Secretary of State. The report summarised that: If the project continues, it

10706-514: Was intended to be occupied by Coin Street Community Builders who have a long lease of the area on which the building would have been constructed. The bridge would have featured trees and shrubs , hedging plants and climbers, perennials , ferns and grasses , and bulbs . Its construction would have required the felling of mature trees on both sides of the river, including 28 plane trees in the avenue on Queen's Walk which were planted in

10812-552: Was intended to carry pedestrians, with no cycles or other vehicles. It was to have been located some 200 metres (660 ft) from Waterloo Bridge and 300 m (980 ft) from Blackfriars Bridge, and have included some areas of planting. The project was to include a commercial building, built on former green space at the southern end of the bridge. The bridge was intended to be funded by raising over £140 million of private money (including taxpayer funding through charitable gift aid) and £60 million of promised public money, of which £30m

10918-544: Was not justified, and that Lambeth would permit the bridge only if it was assured that the project's funds would not be taken from Transport for London. Negotiations were resolved in November 2015. However, in March 2016 it was reported that Lambeth Council had put the necessary lease modifications in place. Permission from the Coin Street Community Builders, a housing trust which holds a long-term lease over part of

11024-647: Was revealed that the total public cost had been £43m. River Thames The River Thames ( / t ɛ m z / TEMZ ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis , is a river that flows through southern England including London . At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom , after the River Severn . The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into

11130-610: Was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, when further cuts to ease navigation reduced distances further. Molesey faces Hampton , and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace , Surbiton , Kingston upon Thames , Teddington , Twickenham , Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House , Kew , Brentford , Chiswick , Barnes , Hammersmith , Fulham , Putney , Wandsworth , Battersea and Chelsea . In central London ,

11236-556: Was to investigate the Department for Transport's handling of its £30 million grant to the Garden Bridge project. The audit would not seek to determine the value for money of the project as a whole. The Director of the audit team was to be Rebecca Sheeran. The National Audit Office invited submission of evidence for its investigation. The National Audit Office duly reported in October 2016. In an interview with Evan Davis on BBC Newsnight on 17 August 2016, Lord Davies of Abersoch said that

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