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.
It was three years ago when I first wrote about the invasion of the Thames by Chinese mitten crabs – so called because of the dense hair on the back of their large claws – and I wondered whether readers of this column had spotted more examples in our stretch of the river.
I always know when the boating season has really got under way because I head down to Lord Montagu’s lovely little pad at Beaulieu in Hampshire to take part in what has become the biggest boatjumble in Europe.
