I love history, especially local history, the kind that I can stroll past as I walk home. The River Thames has a special place in my heart.

Did you know that the River Thames (pronounced ‘temz’) is so called because originally it was called Tamesas, a Celt word which meant dark. An apt description of the river’s water.

The Romans, later, called it the Tamesis, and then the “Th” was put added during the Renaissance period as they thought the Celts originated from Greece – possibly to reflect a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in Greece. The ‘th’ was, allegedly, then dropped for the ‘t’ pronunciation that we stress today, as one of the Kings couldn’t say his ‘th’s.

Okay, nothing to do with the Celts, but did you also know that according to the  Anglo-Saxon Chronicles in 879 AD Vikings raiders moored their boat at Fulham (and that borough is to the right of the photograph, and it’s where I live, when in London) and they stayed there for the winter. I find that fascinating!