As regular readers of this column will know, I deplored the decision by Surrey Police to remove the only officer dedicated to patrolling our stretch of the Thames back in August.
The one thing that the majority of people who use the river for recreation have in common is a sense of responsibility – a desire to preserve the Thames and to safeguard its beauty for future generations.
I knew from a very young age that I loved the water. It didn’t matter whether it was pottering about in a small rowing dinghy on the Thames at Twickenham where I was born or flinging myself through breaking waves on the beach at Holland on Sea in Essex where we used to stay with my uncle and aunt most summers – I just loved the water.
