The Thames River at Eel Pie Island in Twickenham is tidal but its water level is also controlled by locks and sluice gates at Teddington and Richmond. Each year these locks and sluice gates are left open as part of a maintenance programme and the river can fall to its ‘natural’ tidal levels.
This means that on the lee side of Eel Pie Island the water falls so low that the river bed can be walked across to the Island. It also reveals all sorts of items hidden in the mud of the river bed that are usually hidden from view and shows the debris of mankind and what we are prepared to throw into the river.
The Bigger Picture 