I was absolutely delighted to receive an email from Alan and Jean Barrett of Walton following on from my piece about the restoration of the old paddle steamer, the Medway Queen, in last week’s Herald and News.
History
It’s great that the old Queen has so many good friends
Regular readers of this column will know that I’ve been following the progress of the restoration work being undertaken on the paddle steamer Medway Queen and I thought it was about time to post an update.
Bombing of the bridge
But brothers Billy and Jeremy and their brave young aunt were undaunted by German pilot’s attack
Got lock and lane woes? Take a different tack…
Following on from last week’s Riverwatch in which I outlined an idea for closing off Walton Lane at the Walton Bridge end that was put forward by Doug Myers from Weybridge, I’ve had a note from Nick Pollard, the chairman of the Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society.
Ice-breaker in wartime UK
For some time now, my good friend Peter Bailey at the Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society has been reminding me that in the society’s Aladdin’s Cave of treasures about the history of the river and the surrounding area, they’ve had these four photos of the Thames frozen over in 1940.
Big screen fame in African Queen
When I first came to live in Ashford, I didn’t give a whole lot of thought to the name of the town
Secrets of gates’ long life revealed
One of the true joys of writing this column is meeting so many lovely people who have great tales to tell about their memories of living and working by our stretch of the Thames.
A ferry interesting start to married life
£9 a week rent from £10 pay, but Bob and Rose had a wonderful view of the Thames
Restoration of historic fireboat
As most readers will know, I’m a big fan of historic boats of all kinds – everything from Thames sailing barges, through classic ‘gentleman’s yachts’ of the 1920s and 30s right through to Royal Navy warships.
Dunkirk spirit of heroic Little Ships
Tribute to boats that rescued trapped soldiers from under Hitler’s nose