The Thames Barge Driving Race or Barge Race is a river-race that was set up in 1975 by a charity called The Transport On Water Association (TOW), now known as the Thames Barge Driving Trust with the backing of

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and Members of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

The race

The race consists of about 11 teams of between four and eight members who steer and row 30 ton barges over a seven-mile course for about 90 minutes from

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

to Westminster Bridge. Considerable skill is needed to pilot ''unpowered'' barges 'rowed under oars' or ''sweeps'' and ride

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

river currents alone, up river. The event commemorates the skills of

lightermen A lighterman is a worker who operates a lighter, a type of flat-bottomed barge, which may be powered or unpowered. In the latter case, today it is usually moved by a powered tug. The term is particularly associated with the highly skilled men ...

who moved

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

this way along the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

up until the 1930s and in a wider context it encourages ongoing interest in moving cargo via water and as a way to recruit younger people back into river trades.
The teams are normally made up of employees of Thames lighterage companies, Port of London Authority or are sponsored by local businesses. The best places to view the race are

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

, London Bridge and

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...

Historical context

During the 1970s Britain suffered a major

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

and many politicians in the UK and US were astutely looking at alternative ways to

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

freight in ways that could reduce dependency on oil. The decline of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and the opening of Tilbury docks caused the closure of the upriver docks on the river Thames and started a steep decline in traditional London lighterage which had transported large amounts of coal. Between 1967 and 1976 over 40 lighterage firms closed down. At the same time the UKs domestic central heating market emerged oil quickly replacing coal. The race thus reflected a more pragmatic political ethos and was a way of keeping alive a dying industry and its river

skills A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of w ...

as the energy

crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

deepened further.

Other river races on the tidal Thames

* Thames Sailing Barge Match * Doggett's Coat and Badge * Shrimpers Regatta *

Great River Race The Great River Race is an annual competition held on the River Thames for any traditional-style coxed boat propelled by oars or paddles. The date of the race for 2022 has been set for the 10th September The competition was started in 1988 ...

Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon is a marathon canoe race in England. The race is held every Easter over a course of from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in central London. It has been run since 1948. Starting at D ...

* The University Boat Race *

Head of the River Race The Head of the River Race (HORR) is an against-the-clock ('processional') rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England between eights, other such races being the Schools' Head of the River Race, Women's Head of the River Rac ...

Women's Eights Head of the River Race The Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. A mirror of the Eights Head of the River for mal ...

Schools' Head of the River Race The Schools' Head of the River Race (SHORR) is the UK's largest school-age Head race, processional (head rowing) race and is organised by Westminster School for crews aged between 14 and 18 years old. It is held in Spring, the end of the head ra ...

* Veterans' Head of the River Race *

Head of the River Fours The Fuller's Head of the River Fours (HOR4s) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. History The idea for a Tradesmen's Tideway Head Race for ...

*Veteran Fours' Head *Pairs Head * Scullers Head of the River Race *

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the Saturday three to four weeks before the S ...

*Hammersmith Head *Quintin Head * Southend Barge Match *Putney Town Regatta *Barnes and Mortlake Regatta *Bourne at Chiswick Regatta *Hammersmith Regatta *Richmond Regatta *Twickenham Regatta

External links

* Official Thames Barge Driving Trust Website: https://www.thamesbargedriving.com * 2007 http://www.portoflondon.co.uk/display_fixedpage.cfm/id/308 * 2006 http://www.greenlandpassage.co.uk/bargerace.html * 2005 https://web.archive.org/web/20071005031551/http://www.thamesworkboats.co.uk/Thames%20Barge%20Driving.htm * 2001 https://web.archive.org/web/20070928073721/http://www.thames.org.uk/pages/bargerace2001.html * Port of London ''Interactive Leisure Map'' http://www.portoflondon.co.uk/display_fixedpage.cfm/id/550/site/leisure * The Swiftstone Trust http://www.thames.org.uk/ Culture in London Racing

The race

Historical context

Other river races on the tidal Thames

See also

External links