I took a wander down to the Bridge Marine boatyard on Sunday – just to check that Terra Nova, the old Seamaster Admiral cabin cruiser that Julie and I own along with my brother, was still where I left her when she came out of the water back in October.

A trip along the Thames in the Richmond Venturer a healing tonic for ex-servicemen and women

I’ve always had a lot of time for the charity called the River Thames Boat Project, which aims to introduce people to our wonderful river and to give people – particularly youngsters and the disabled – the chance to spend time on the water.

Well, it seems I must be one of the few people who hadn’t heard the stories about prize-fighting taking place in Shepperton!

News of a couple of riverside walks taking place in the near future is top of the agenda this week.

During the 1950s, the River Thames was officially branded a biologically ‘dead’ river. It suffered from all kinds of pollution – both from industrial waste and from sewage – that was being pumped into it. Little could survive in the water and anyone falling into it risked major infection.

Douglas Dick is a stalwart of the local sailing community – both with Desborough Sailing Club in Shepperton and with Queen Mary Sailing Club on the reservoir in Ashford.

I’m always pleased to see new businesses arrive on our lovely stretch of the Thames – they provide work and can bring people into the area who spend their money locally which is good for the economy.

At last, it’s starting to get a bit warmer and those endless grey, dreary days appear to have given way to bright spring mornings and lighter evenings.

Charities find very diverse ways of raising money for their causes but one of the most original – and effective – has recently been demonstrated by the good people associated with the Thames Boat Project, which was set up to help make the Thames more accessible to a wide range of people.