The Chernobyl mums and their children relax aboard the Richmond Venturer

Dirty work but it has to be done

The River Thames is probably cleaner today than it has been for decades. Yet there is still much to do.

Her bottom is foul no more – bring on those long summer voyages

While I was swanning around having a truly memorable holiday in Hawaii, my lovely brother, Alan, was working his fingers to the bone, up to his elbows in grease and diesel fuel, refurbishing bits of the engine on Terra Nova, our old Seamaster Admiral cabin cruiser.

I found a zoo

My readers never cease to amaze me with their enthusiastic responses to this column. Last week, I wrote about the diversity of wildlife on our stretch of the Thames and ever since the paper came out, I’ve been bombarded with people telling me their stories about their encounters with wildlife.