I'm delighted to record that Eve Gould from Weybridge Ladies’ Rowing Club celebrated her 86th birthday earlier this month by heading out on the river as the number three in a quad – just as she has done so many times before over the years.

My brother Alan, and I have been working on our old Seamaster Admiral cabin cruiser, Terra Nova, to get her ready to go back into the water.

Uncle Dave Cameron, our esteemed PM, has been talking about the ‘Big Society’ ever since he moved into the seat of power and about how we need to get together to help each other by volunteering in various capacities.

It was three years ago when I first wrote about the invasion of the Thames by Chinese mitten crabs – so called because of the dense hair on the back of their large claws – and I wondered whether readers of this column had spotted more examples in our stretch of the river.