The spirit of Dunkirk on the Thames

Thames River Boats is the only riverboat with scheduled services from Westminster to Kew Gardens.

Perhaps because of the shallow waters of the river upstream of Putney, the company operates relatively small boats in comparison to the modern catamarans of the routes down to Greenwich.

We rode on the Kingwood, a steamer made of wood and built in 1915 and with a heroic past. It served in the evacuation on Dunkirk.

Nowadays it carries tourists and is hired as a venue for parties, which says something of the versatility of an almost one hundred-year old vessel.