Words in Progress: Travelling Along the Thames

This week on my writing blog, with my recent story, Lucky of Love in mind, I’m looking at another aspect of London, the River Thames.

Given the state of the roads in 17^th century England, mired by lack of upkeep and the dangers of highwaymen, the river along which the city was built was an all-important transport route.

In Lucky in Love, my MC Owen has to take a short trip upriver to Hammersmith to deliver an important message. This sub-plot made me dive deep into researching tides, times and methods of transport.

Water taxis and informal ferries, known as “wherries” in this period, were nothing new. With only London Bridge spanning the river, they were the quickest way of getting from the north to the south bank. Incidentally, a quick check led me to this fascinating blog on London’s bridges. Well worth a look!

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, the Palace of Whitehall had several exits leading directly to the river. These weren’t just functional. There were also musical interludes, firework displays and water pageants that took place on the river for special occasions. When using the Thames as transport, the king and his retinue would have travelled in considerable luxury in the royal barge to the palaces at Greenwich and Hampton Court.

Owen doesn’t have such extravagant options and has to haggle with a waterman to negotiate a price for his trip. In Restoration London, Liza Picard describes the kind of small boat that Owen hires with “one or two men rowing and one or two passengers sitting at the other end.” She comments that the river would have been crammed with such sturdy craft, “in the 20 miles between Gravesend and London Bridge there were more than 1,400 ships.”

In working out the logistics of Owen’s journey upriver, I found the modern Thames River Boats site invaluable. It was not only helpful in calculating the approximate timings but also had some very useful information on tides as well as some lovely pictures of destinations!

Although Owen’s expedition is only a small part of Lucky in Love, I relished this research rabbit hole. I learned enough to be inspired to write about the River Thames again in a future story. Even looking through the books and websites I referenced has enthused me!

Rainbow Snippets: Lucky in Love

This weekend for Rainbow Snippets, I’m snipping again from Lucky in Love, my new release set in the 17^th century at the start of the Restoration era, featuring Owen and John, my established couple from last year’s novella, Lucky John.

Authors who take part in Rainbow Snippets each weekend are encouraged to post a few lines from one of their stories on their blog and then link back to the group post on Facebook. I always enjoy joining in with Rainbow Snippets, especially to read and comment on everyone else’s choice of snippet.

In Lucky in Love, Owen and John are summoned by Owen’s courtier brother Lewis from the peace of the countryside to the hurly-burly of the royal court. In this snippet, they have just arrived at Lewis’ quarters and meet Cuthbert, a palace page as worldly as John is innocent. This snippet is a bit longer than usual, but I couldn’t resist including all the fun!

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“My name is Cuthbert, and I am acting as a page to Sir Lewis. Can I be of assistance, sir?” he asked from under his long dark eyelashes, leaving Owen with no doubt as to what service he offered. Thankfully, John was occupied in unpacking Owen’s shirts and didn’t hear the obvious note of seduction in the page’s voice.

“I can fend for myself and I have my own man to see to my needs,” Owen said decisively. He had no intention of removing his clothes in front of the page if his hands were as eager as the hungry promise in his eyes. Owen fished some coins out of his pocket for the expected tip.

The page inclined his head. “If it so pleases you. Sir Lewis told me to fetch the barber and then to choose a suit of clothing for you to wear. He said he trusted my taste implicitly.” He eyed Owen in a disturbingly speculative way. Owen was caught between annoyance and arousal. I am only human, he thought, and the invitation was blatant.

By this stage, John had caught the drift of the servant’s importuning.

“Then we won’t keep you from your pressing tasks,” he said firmly, “since I alone will serve my master.”

The page took the obvious claim of ownership with good grace.

“Very well,” he said with a sly smile. “I will go about my duty.”

“And please knock when you return,” John said sweetly as the door closed.