ONE of the most enjoyable community events on the river takes place this weekend with the running of the 132nd Sunbury Amateur Regatta.
This wonderful annual festival combines some very serious racing on the water in skiffs, punts and dongolas with an excellent family-orientated bunch of activities on Rivermead Island.
As always, the members of the organising committee have put in a huge amount of work to ensure that everyone has a great time right from the moment the regatta gets under way at 9am through until the now legendary fireworks display at the end of Saturday.
Hopefully, the British “summer” might relent and give us some half decent weather and I’d urge anyone who hasn’t sampled the atmosphere at Sunbury regatta to head off over there.
Don’t forget, incidentally, that there’s a junior event – the Edith Topsfield Junior Regatta – at the same site on Sunday, August 16.
IT was nice to hear from former Laleham resident David McDougall who now lives in Colnbrook that he enjoyed my description of the trip my brother and I made in our old Seamaster cabin cruiser down to the Medway. It seems David and a friend made the same journey – also in a Seamaster 25 – in the early 70s and it evoked a lot of memories for him.
He also corrects me on my claim that there aren’t any decent pubs on the lower reaches of the Medway.
“You missed out by not going to the Old House at Home at Queenborough,” he tells me. “Wonderful food and a really nice atmosphere.” Thanks David, I’ll remember that for the next trip…
KEITH Bristow was out walking along the towpath at Walton with his grandson, eight-year-old James Knight, last Saturday when the youngster spotted a large crab sitting on top of a log at the edge of the Thames.
“It was about six inches across the shell,” said Keith of Russell Road, “and it wasn’t moving so we both assumed it was dead. It had big claws and was a muddy green colour.”
Keith then saw the picture of a mitten crab in last week’s column and is pretty sure that was what young James had spotted.
I’ve also heard from a Sunbury lady who said she’d seen one on the towpath close to Sunbury lock – so it certainly seems mitten crabs are still pushing upstream. Any advance on Sunbury or Walton…?