Following the Thames from its source to the North Sea, with no boating experience but plenty of optimism, this is a story of surviving cold-soaked meals and gaining an unexpected insight along the way.
In the Summer of 2024 Ed Pratt decided to embark on a home grown adventure - traverse the river Thames from its source in Trewsbery Mead, Gloucestershire, and follow its course to the North Sea. His one rule? Not to stray from the rivers course. With little to no boating experience but a heap of optimism and cold soaked meals at the ready, Ed gives us an insight into his UK based epic and the unexpected takeaway he had from it all.
First things First - what was the motivation for a two week self supported voyage down the Thames
It’s always been an idea in my head to follow rivers. It’s got quite a nice built in story because you’ve got this top, middle, and end section, and everything changes as you go down.
I’d tried the source to sea aspect a year earlier on the River Paros, which was local to me at the time. I had an inflatable boat, too much gear and I was really under-prepared. I think my boat ended up weighing around 27kilos in the end! But this was just about getting out there and enjoying myself.
The Thames seemed like a natural step up. I liked the idea of the locks and the crescendo of going through London. I thought it was something I’d enjoy doing and people would enjoy watching. As there are so many eyes on river health and sewage at the moment I also saw it as a great opportunity to fundraise for the River Trust and do some testing for them along the way. I was testing for nitrate phosphates and initially I thought I’d do this every day but it wasn’t really possible. People were really keen for this though, they kept asking for more results! It was nice to have this as an aspect of it - it felt like it became a bit bigger than just me going on a trip. It felt like I was maybe making a small difference and bringing a bit of awareness.
One thing that’s really evident in your Youtube videos is how curious people are about what you’re doing and where you're going. Was this something you anticipated?
To be honest one of the reasons I picked the Thames was I knew there were a lot of people living on it (and I was keen to snoop around peoples houseboats). I was hoping that part of the trip would be to tell the stories of people who were living near the river, because that’s part of the river, the people living on it.
One of the best places to chat to people were the locks. They were also great places for learning. The first lock I turned up to, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had a windlass with me, which is basically a steel bar that interacts and unlocks locks. Canal locks that is. I didn’t realise you didn’t need these for rivers, they just have wheels! A few weeks before the trip I’d spent a couple of days on a houseboat, just to get an idea of the locks and this windlass. In the end I was just carrying 3 to 4 kilos of unnecessary steel. I think this shows I was pretty inexperienced going into this. But people at the locks were always eager to help and show me how to do things.
And yes people were definitely interested in what I was doing. I was a bit nervous initially about how people would react to me. If you see someone dressed in a black wetsuit wading through your back garden, you can understand why they might not be ok with it. But I was blown away by the reception I had. I don’t know why that was. I’m keen to do another river in the UK to see if that reception was unique to the Thames.
As I got deeper into the trip and I was making short videos as I went, there was a definite shift from me having to explain what I was doing, to people going ‘Oh I’ve seen this guy on the internet’ and being excited to see me. The videos also gave rise for people to offer me places to stay! In London I was offered a bed in the captain's cabin of the HMS Wellington which is on the North bank near Waterloo bridge. An opportunity like that probably wouldn’t have come around if I hadn’t been posting the videos.
Another key part to any trip is the kit - with your trip being both a river wade and kayak, how did you go about sorting and carrying it?
My trip (and kit) was really split into two parts - the wade to Cricklade and the kayak after Cricklade. I bivvied for the wade section, something I’d never done before. It was fun to be so lightweight and still comfortable, though I was lucky the weather stayed dry! To save weight I cold soaked my dinners in a jar for that part. I just needed everything to pack down and fit in my waterproof backpack. From Cricklade I had the soloist tent - I really enjoyed that tent. I feel like kit-wise I was pretty prepared, though I was never too far away from civilisation if I had forgotten anything. I had the element two piece wet suit to wear, though I realised very last minute that I’d made a mistake on the sizing. I kept having to hitch up the pants and release the zip of the top. The split toe booties worked really well for keeping my feet warm, until I lost one when I capsized. At the time I just felt grateful that was all I’d lost!
It’s always hard to summarise a long trip but if you had to pick a best and worst day what would they be?
My absolute favourite day was when I went through Ashton Keynes. It was probably only a mile through, but it took me over an hour because people kept stopping me to speak. There was one family that invited me out to their house and gave me some beans and coffee. I felt like I was being looked after which was great! You leave on this kind of thing alone and you’re not sure how it's going to go, so this gave me a lot of confidence going forwards.
In terms of excitement though, it would have to be going through London. I had just been so unprepared, for all of it really. With London I kept getting mixed messages about a specific license I’d need for the boat to go through, which luckily ended up not being true. So it was cool to have gotten to this stage and feel like I’d learnt enough to keep myself (relatively) safe.
Another key moment was my trip to Cricklade a month before I started. I needed to find somewhere to keep my kayak and kit until I picked it up as I passed through. I thought I’d ask around a bit and the first door I knocked on belonged to Leslie and Dave. Dave let me keep my gear at theirs and I don’t think I could have found a better house. Their garden backs onto the Thames, though it's more a trickle than a river at that stage. On the trip, I intended to show up at midday, load up and travel on. But because things always take longer than you think, I didn’t get there until 6pm. Instead of camping in the garden, Dave offered me a spare room. This was such a big deal. I was able to shower, organise my kit and really set myself up for the next part of the trip. I’m very grateful to them for that.
My least favourite part of the trip was the second to last day. I was out past London, heading towards Gravesend. I was heading under the last major bridge on the Thames, I think its the Queen Elizabeth, and I really misjudged what was coming up. There were all these eddies and they tipped me right in. I was lucky the currents pushed me over to the bank and I could collect myself, but for the next hour of paddling I was pretty scared. I was conscious of the tides and that if I faffed around too much they’d turn against me. It’s amazing how quickly the tide can suck you through, particularly through London. So I wanted to utilise that, and the thought of capsizing and wasting more of that time really got to me. Eventually I got to Gravesend and the next morning I knew I needed to be in the water and paddling by 8am, again for the tide. And I just didn’t want to get back in. I felt very safe on dry land and I kept thinking back to the moment I capsized and I thought that could have been so much worse.
But I also knew I had to do it, or I wouldn’t have been happy with myself. The deeper you get into these trips, the more committed you get. And luckily it did all work out!
Final thoughts?
The thing I took from the trip was how lovely the British public were. I didn’t realise how much that would make the trip.
I think there’s a perception that that’s not the case, but I think the videos show a very different story. It felt like everyone was getting together to help me succeed on this trip. It was in total 18 nights away, which I intended to camp all of and I only ended up camping 7 nights because people kept giving me places to stay. It wasn’t paid, just strangers inviting me to stay. I’d love to do another river trip and see if this happens everywhere or if it’s unique to The Thames.