This is supposed to be my last Riverwatch for a few weeks. I say ‘supposed to be’ because my wife and I are scheduled to be flying to Hawaii to celebrate my 60th birthday on Saturday. But as I sit at home writing these notes with a week to go before ‘The Big Holiday,’ the sky is a brilliant, clear blue without a vapour trail in sight and there isn’t an aircraft to be seen in the sky. It’s worryingly quiet.
Year: 2010
Stop fishing on the river
As regular readers of this column will know, I’ve written a number of times about the problems of illegal fishing on the Thames and its tributaries in our area – and despite increased vigilance from the Environment Agency, it has clearly not gone away.
Missing eel is an enigma
I never cease to be amazed by the wonders of Mother Nature. Just when you think you understand her whys and wherefores, she does something completely unexpected. Take the population of eels inhabiting the River Thames, for example.
Keep a clean licence
Huzzah! At long last the wintry weather seems to be loosening its grip on us. The clocks have sprung forward and the temperature is heading up towards more sensible levels – and that means that for most boat owners the time is rapidly approaching when we can get our charges back in the water and start enjoying life afloat once more.
Be snap happy this spring
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.
Stay away from the water
Several readers have contacted me following my article last week about the removal of trees and the proposed work to be carried out by the Environment Agency along the stretch of riverbank between Weybridge Ladies’ Rowing Club and D’Oyley Carte Island.
Why it’s bare on the bank
A few weeks back, I wrote an article highlighting the anger of a number of local people about the Environment Agency’s decision to cut down a lot of trees on the towpath of the Surrey bank of the Thames near Weybridge.
The Thames in all its glory
Many people take the River Thames for granted. It’s something that folk walk beside, drive over, fish in or navigate upon very regularly – and like so many things that we see every day, it is easy to let the river merge into the background of our busy hustle and bustle lifestyles.
Little ship may have changed course of history in many ways
Boatbuilder Michael Dennett has a very special reason for his love of Dunkirk Little Ships – his dad was one of thousands of British servicemen plucked from the beaches outside the French port back in 1940 as part of what was known as Operation Dynamo.
Lucky numbers all round
When 74-year-old John Molnar put a £2 charity donation into the bowl on Shepperton-based Bridge Marine’s stand at the London Boat Show, to give himself the chance of winning an outboard motor, he wasn’t terribly hopeful about his chances.