The history of boating on the Thames
By European standards the river Thames is seemingly insignificant. At only 215 miles (346km) from source to mouth, it is not only... Read More
Out now: Updated (2017) version of Pleasure Boating
A new edition (reprint) of Pleasure Boating on the Thames is out now. Besides being a thicker tome, thanks to it being... Read More
Oxford, the Thames and leisure: updated thoughts (August 2016)
This month (August 2016) my doctoral thesis (‘Oxford, the Thames and Leisure: a History of Salter Bros, 1858 – 2010‘) is finally... Read More
Building Racing Boats: Salter Bros
The Salter family was one of the most important boat building firms connected with the sport of rowing. Their firm rose to... Read More
Recommended resources on the history of the river Thames
There has been a vast amount written about the river Thames, mainly at the popular level. If you are wanting to study... Read More
The history of racing boat building
The famous boat race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge receives a huge amount of attention, but the eights that the... Read More
The River Thames and the Popularisation of Camping, 1860-1980
This academic article by Simon Wenham reconsiders the history of (recreational) camping in Britain. It challenges the prevailing idea that the pastime... Read More
Oxford, the Thames and Leisure: a History of Salter Bros, 1858-2010
Oxford University DPhil thesis, Michaelmas term, 2012 by Simon Wenham. [Please note that some of my views have evolved since the publication... Read More