Some youngsters just exhibit a natural talent for sailing when they get out on the water – but for Isobel Mitchell, it might have come as a bit of a surprise because what she actually wanted to do was to windsurf.
We all take locks for granted as we travel up and down the Thames. These days, the modern electronic controls and smooth hydraulics that are in use at most locks allow easy passage from one river reach to another and the hardest problem for lock keepers to face is simply trying to fit a huge number of boats into the lock chamber.
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.
