CHAPTER I
PAGE
The Beauty of the River[1]
CHAPTER II
The Oxford Meadows[25]
CHAPTER III
The Old Town of Abingdon[37]
CHAPTER IV
Dorchester and Sinodun Hill[47]
CHAPTER V
Castle and Stronghold[53]
CHAPTER VI
Twin Villages[57]
CHAPTER VII
A Mitred Abbot[67]
CHAPTER VIII
Sonning and its Roses[72]
CHAPTER IX
Wargrave and Neighbourhood[80]
CHAPTER X
Henley[97]
CHAPTER XI
The Romance of Bisham and Hurley[105]
CHAPTER XII
Boulter's Lock and Maidenhead[128]
CHAPTER XIII
Windsor and Eton[140]
CHAPTER XIV
Magna Charta[155]
CHAPTER XV
Penton Hook[161]
CHAPTER XVI
Weybridge and Chertsey[167]
CHAPTER XVII
The Londoner's Zone[177]
CHAPTER XVIII
The River at London[205]
CHAPTER XIX
Our National Possession[231]
Index[243]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Punting[Frontispiece]
PAGE
2. Thames Ditton[v]
3. Sutton Courtney, Culham Bridge[1]
4. PangbourneFacing[4]
5. Dorchester Abbey"[8]
6. Day's Lock"[12]
7. Near the Bridge, Sutton Courtney"[14]
8. Streatley Inn"[18]
9. Sandford Lock[25]
10. IffleyFacing[28]
11. Radley College Boat-house"[34]
12. Almshouses of Abingdon[37]
13. AbingdonFacing[38]
14. The Mill at Abingdon"[40]
15. Sutton Courtney Backwater"[42]
16. Clifden Hampden from the Bridge"[44]
17. Clifden Hampden"[46]
18. Hurley[47]
19. Cottages, DorchesterFacing[48]
20. White Hart Hotel, Dorchester"[50]
21. Dorchester Backwater"[52]
22. Danesfield[53]
23. WallingfordFacing[54]
24. Streatley Mill"[56]
25. Goring Bridge[57]
26. StreatleyFacing[58]
27. Goring Church"[60]
28. Goring"[62]
29. Pangbourne, from the Swan Hotel"[64]
30. Whitchurch Lock"[64]
31. Mapledurham Mill"[66]
32. Evening[67]
33. CavershamFacing[70]
34. Paddling[72]
35. The Rose Garden at SonningFacing[72]
36. Sonning"[76]
37. St. George and the Dragon, Wargrave[80]
38. The Church at WargraveFacing[80]
39. Barges at Oxford[97]
40. Red Lion Hotel, HenleyFacing[98]
41. Henley Regatta"[100]
42. Hambleden"[102]
43. Medmenham Abbey[105]
44. General View of MarlowFacing[106]
45. Quarry Woods"[108]
46. Bisham Church"[110]
47. Hurley Backwater"[112]
48. Bisham Abbey"[114]
49. Cookham, from above[128]
50. Boulter's Lock, Ascot SundayFacing[128]
51. Below Boulter's Lock"[130]
52. Maidenhead"[132]
53. Eton, from the Brocas[140]
54. Windsor CastleFacing[140]
55. Windsor"[144]
56. Eton Chapel, from the Fields"[148]
57. Magna Charta Island[155]
58. Hedsor Fishery[161]
59. Temple Lock[167]
60. Walton BridgeFacing[172]
61. Sunbury"[174]
62. Hampton Court[177]
63. Hampton Court, from the RiverFacing[178]
64. Marlow Church[205]
65. Beyond Hammersmith BridgeFacing[206]
66. The Custom House"[208]
67. Dutch Barges near the Tower"[210]
68. The Tower of St. Magnus"[212]
69. St. Paul'sFacing[214]
70. The Houses of Parliament"[216]
71. Westminster by Night"[218]
72. Hay Barges near Westminster Bridge"[222]
73. Chelsea Reach, with the Old Church"[226]
74. View from Richmond Hill[231]
75. From Battersea BridgeFacing[232]
[Sketch Map at end of Volume]

The Illustrations in this volume were engraved and printed at the Menpes Press, Watford.

CHAPTER I
THE BEAUTY OF THE RIVER

Close your eyes and conjure up a vision of the river Thames; what is the picture that you see? If you are a prosaic and commercial person, whose business lies by the river side, the vision will be one of wharves and docks, of busy cranes loading and unloading; a row of bonded warehouses rising from the water's edge; lighters filled with tea lying in their shadow, tarpaulined and padlocked; ships of all sizes and shapes, worn by water and weather. And up and down, in and out, among it all you see river police on their launch, inquisitive and determined, watching everything, hearing everything, and turning up when least expected. The glories of the high Tower Bridge, and the smoky gold of the setting sun will not affect you, for your thoughts are fixed on prosaic detail. As for green fields and quiet backwaters, such things do not enter into the vision at all.