On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:25:19 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

In Thames Rd aka Strand On The Green, just west of the railway bridge is an
alley called Post Office Alley which contains a small old floodgate at the
river end. Set into one wall of this alleyway is a line of solid metal knobs
which are shaped like carpentry dovetails. The line is level (i.e. level
with a spirit level rather than level with the rather sloping ground). There
is nothing in the other side of the alley. I presume they serve some flood
defence purpose but I can't figure it out. Any clues?

Great that MatSav found the photo:

http://americangrey.co.uk/index.php?showimage=489

but unfortunately it doesn't show the knobs very clearly.

ISTM that is unlikely they are anything to do with flood control.

Could they be the terminals of rods holding the wall in? If so, the
higher rendering on that side could be concealing wall repair work.

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:14:13 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

Thames Road is not "aka" Strand on the Green. The name Strand on the Green
is applied both to (a) the riverside village just downstream from Kew
Bridge, and (b) within that village the highway along the river bank. That
highway starts as a road but the road soon veers away from the river at
which point it becomes Thames Road.

The word "strand" means beach or shore. The road Strand near Charing
Cross used to be along the shoreline of the Thames before infilling
(narrowing) of the river, which is a common fate for waterfront in
areas of high land value.

I assume Strand on the Green is/was a river beach backing on to a
green, and a village by it. The green seems to be long-gone,
according to my A-Z. The street Strand on the Green is right next to
the (original) strand, while Thames Road is slightly inland of it and
thus quite properly not called a strand. The A-Z appears to name the
river bank parallel to Thames Road as "Strand on the Green".

There's an article about the place in Wikipedia, with pictures
(including one of flooding).

Adrian

..

Adrian Stott