Photographs are great for keeping a record of what’s happening on our lovely river – but somehow paintings capture more of the spirit of an event that even the best photograph in my view.
Local people
Skating on thick ice
Amateur meteorologist Harry Kershaw from Manchester reckons this winter could be the coldest for 270 years and he says the Thames may freeze over. Judging from the weather over the last couple of weeks, he may not be too far out.
Judith’s wise investment
“The River Thames is one of Spelthorne borough’s greatest assets – and we simply don’t make enough of that fact.” Those were the words of former major and borough councillor Judith Wood-Dow of Staines as she prepared to board the traditional shallop, Jubilant, at the Thames Lodge hotel a couple of weeks back.
Fitting tribute to a lifesaver
It’s not often you have the opportunity to remember a courageous deed in a practical way but Staines Boat Club members have managed it by naming their new rescue boat after a former oarsman who died whilst saving the life of a fellow crewman.
Traditional skills survive
Traditional skills are rapidly becoming a thing of the past so it’s fantastic to find that the Herald & News area is home to one of the last wooden boat builders on the Thames – Michael Dennett based at Laleham Reach in Chertsey.
The pleasure of boats
So what do you do after you take early retirement at the age of 54 following a career as a computer systems engineer working for British Airways? That was the question facing Derek Beake from Richmond Drive, Shepperton in 1997…
The river runs through him
Pat Brady has always loved the river. The 66-year-old from Loudwater Road, Lower Sunbury, spent the majority of his working life on and around the Thames and its tributaries.
Brothers united on the river
Brothers Chris, Keith and Jeffrey French had summer jobs on the river when they were growing up so it was probably no surprise when their mum, Margaret Anne, suggested the three brothers should join together and set up a venture offering trips on the river to paying passengers back in 1978.
Rainbow chasing
When Sam Dawson’s father, Ronald, died in 2003 at the age of 74 from a stroke it changed his son’s life completely. For years, the pair had been running the film lighting and equipment hire company – called Rainbow Lighting – that Ronald had founded in the 1960s, working long hours and travelling all over the country.
Giving berth to a dream
ROB MARSH has a dream. He wants to make Shepperton Marina the best on the Thames – no small ambition when you consider some of the competitors he’s up against.