Thames Barrier

Ian and I headed into London to check out the Thames Barrier on the weekend. It's big, shiny and stops flooding.

Now I have been damming small rivers since I was a kid, with rocks, sticks and mud. I could spend hours trying to halt the flow, with only temporary success. Sometimes Bridie even thought I was a beaver.

But this takes it to new levels. They can block the entire Thames in case of a super high tide and prevent all of London flooding. And, with any luck, they will be more successful than I was.