Estuary: Out from London to the Sea
(Hamish Hamilton, September 2016)
The Thames Estuary is one of the world’s great deltas, providing passage in and out of London for millennia. It is silted up with the memories and artefacts of past voyages. It is the habitat for an astonishing range of wildlife. And for the people who live and work there, it is a way of life unlike any other – one most would not trade for anything, despite its many dangers. Rachel Lichtenstein has travelled its length and breadth many times. Here she gathers these experiences in an extraordinary chorus of voices: mudlarkers and fishermen, radio pirates and champion racers, the men who risk their lives out on the water and the women who wait on the shore. Estuary is a thoughtful and intimate portrait of this place, both the community and the environment, examining how each has shaped and continues to shape the other.
Podcast of Rachel talking about Estuary with the London Sound Survey available at soundsurvey.org.uk
Photography by Simon Fowler.
