The Queen's Diamond Jubilee River Pageant was a typically British affair. There was a spirit of amateurism about the proceedings: a procession of eccentric boats, some of which were apologetically small. Australians could be heard unfavourably comparing the spectacle to sea parades in Sydney Harbour.
But these days, the Thames isn't really about pomp and ceremony, and our austerity pageant reflected that. It's a working river — albeit a fairly quiet one — with ferries, police and pleasure boats making good use of its generous space. There is also freight transport, as the Londonist podcast has documented.
This selection documents the array of boats of the river, and it is merely coincidence that so many of these images feature looming clouds. Where the sun does break through, as it does with a dawn shot (image three), the river sparkles.
All images courtesy of Londonist Flickr pool contributors: marosvongrej, msganching, stevekeiretsu, jon smith, Stephskimo, _ADW_, D1v1D, thomas100, frenchconnector, violinconcertono3 and Andy Blackwell
See also London's best boats and ships.
