Local campaign group, Save Our Lands and River (SOLAR) hosted a Picnic & Paddle event yesterday (Sunday, 17 August) in protest against Thames Water's 'sewage pump scheme', which the company calls the Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) project.

The event, which took place on the Burnell Avenue green space by the Teddington stretch of the Thames, saw families, friends, and individuals enjoy some kayaking, paddle boarding, and swimming in the river to show Thames Water that if its project goes ahead, it will prevent people from enjoying the river.

Attendees enjoyed paddle boarding, kyaking, and swimming in the river (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

Among those in attendance were locals, members of the Teddington Blue Tits and individuals who had travelled over from Camden and New Malden to join the protest.

The event was held in protest against Thames Water's Teddington Direct River Abstraction project (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

The attendee from Camden explained that the TDRA project does not only impact the Thames at Teddington but the whole river, so he felt it was important to join the protest.

There was also live music from local singer, Jonathon Hughes, throughout the day, and SOLAR members invited attendees and passers by to sign their protest postcards.

You can collect SOLAR's postcards from various venues in Teddington (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

To help promote SOLAR's protest, Hughes sang his own version of 'Wade in the Water', changing the lyrics to "See that company in blue and white, (They wanna trouble our water)

"They've got some plans that just ain't right, (They wanna trouble our water)

"They wanna build a tunnel under Ham Lands, (They wanna trouble our water)

"It's a crazy idea - it's gotta be banned, (They wanna trouble our water)

"Shame on Thames Water

"Shame on Thames Water, children

"Shame on Thames Water

"They're NOT gonna trouble our water

"If you still believe we'll all be okay, (They wanna trouble our water)

"Just follow the money - it's us who will pay, (They wanna trouble our water)

"We love this beautiful stretch of the Thames, (They wanna trouble our water)

"So, let's bring their filthy plan to an end, (They wanna trouble our water)

"Shame on Thames Water

"Shame on Thames Water, children

"Shame on Thames Water

"They're NOT gonna trouble our water."

Moreover, the group had a variety of cakes on offer, including gingerbread men in the shape of poos and swimmers.

SOLAR made gingerbread men in protest of Thames Water's project (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

Speaking about the event, SOLAR campaigner, Jade, said: "A big thank you to everyone that came out and supported the Picnic and Paddle event today.

"Save our land River put this event on really to get the community together to showcase why this space is so loved and important for us to give new people the opportunity to swim and paddle board, and that's exactly what has happened today.

"More people have signed the postcards in opposition to Thames Water's plan. The fight doesn't stop here; we'll continue to campaign and see a stop to this plan."

SOLAR members wore their protest Tshirts to the event, which they were also selling (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

Another SOLAR member, Rory, added: "Events like this one today just show how important the river is ever to everyone.

And what's really striking is, we will not have a day like today again if this goes ahead - there's no way we'll have children swimming in the river if Thames Water treats the river in the way it plans to, and that's really sad. 


"So, today's a really happy day, but it's also a really poignant day because we don't know how many of these days are we going to have left."

Local children also expressed their opposition to Thames Water's plans, with one saying: "I really love paddle boarding and pumping sewage into the river will stop me from doing that."

Another shouted: "Stop the Thames sewage pump!"

A third expressed her concerns about how the TDRA project will affect the wildlife in the Thames.