London's River Tales for Children

London’s rivers provide the setting for this collection of historical and traditional stories, spanning Roman times to the present day. The book considers the Thames alongside lesser-known waterways that have been forced underground as the city expanded, including the Fleet and the Wandle. Its stories bring waterside lives and changing communities into view, linking London’s rivers with work, travel, conflict and survival.

Among the figures and episodes are mudlarks, Vikings, refugees, a pirate queen and a young boy escaping enslavement. Other tales involve Frost Fairs on the frozen Thames, ferries, fish, barges and sailors arriving from distant places. Written for children, the collection presents London’s river history through narrative rather than straightforward chronology.