BRINGING TOGETHER KINDRED SPIRITS IN PUBLISHING, PRINTING AND THE GRAPHIC ARTS
NEXT EVENT
Evening Meeting of The Wynkyn de Worde Society
The River Thames: Highway for London
Margaret Willes
Tuesday 22 September 2026, The Art Workers’ Guild | 6:30pm
The Thames is the key to why London became the capital first of England, then the United Kingdom and the British Empire, for the city is located at its narrowest crossing point.
Easily accessible from Europe, the river has been the principal route for trade into the kingdom, and for centuries it has also provided the theatre for pageantry and grand ceremony.
Ex-chair Margaret Willes’s talk illuminates how the river played a pivotal role in the development of the city’s commerce and culture, industry and institutions. Through Claes Visscher’s View of London, Canaletto’s The River Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day and other illustrations, we will discover how the river is inextricably linked to the capital’s and indeed the nation’s heritage and history.
