All over the country last weekend, sailing clubs, rowing club, motor cruising clubs and all kinds of other water users came together in a pre-Olympic celebration called ‘Push the Boat Out’ to indicate their support for our Olympic sailors, rowers and kayakers.
It’s quite astounding how much junk there is in the River Thames. Everyone has probably seen a supermarket shopping trolley nestling in the shallows close to the bank or the odd lorry tyre rotting gently in the mud.
Whenever Staines regatta comes around, it’s always a bit of a poignant time and this Saturday the event is being staged as a tribute to the memory of the crew of the Ashes eight, three of whom – David Firman, Alan Wickens and Alan Choules – died in a tragic accident at Penton Hook in April 1971.
