I was really sad to see this photo of the ruins of the old Thornycroft yard on Platts Eyot going up in flames last week. It truly marked the end of a era in a very sad way as the blaze, which was fought by fire crews from all over the area, put the final nail in the coffin of what was once a thriving local business that built some of the finest fast launches in the world.
Recent developments
Environment Agency’s licensing blooper
A couple of months back I wrote a piece in this column exalting in the fact that Environment Agency inspectors had nabbed a significant number of boats on our stretch of the Thames which weren’t displaying the proper registration licence sticker and urging all boat owners to do the right thing and apply for the river equivalent of a tax disc.
Trolley good news
Although I’ve never been a fishermen, several of my friends who are tell me that I’m missing a great way to relax and unwind – and given that fishermen spend a lot of their lives gazing at a float on the surface of the river surrounded by beautiful countryside and the sound of the birds singing, I can certainly understand the attraction.
Remember landing?
It always worries me that, bit-by-bit, our public rights can be eroded away simply because we don’t know when – or how – to protect them.
The bare knuckle truth
Well, it seems I must be one of the few people who hadn’t heard the stories about prize-fighting taking place in Shepperton!
Do the decent thing
I get really angry with people who drive their cars on the road without paying the annual road fund licence. They are the kind of people who obviously think they’re more important than the rest of us and that the law doesn’t apply to them.
A dangerous friend
My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who died when a small boat carrying six people overturned close to Pharoah’s Island at Shepperton.
Marina makes waves
Steve Gray is a man on a mission. He has been the operations manager at Shepperton Marina in Felix Lane, Shepperton for the past seven years and much of his time has been devoted to the project of expanding the marina by adding new mooring pontoons on two of the currently unused lakes on the site.
Voted best, and worst
I recently revealed that the River Thames had won a prestigious international conservation award – the Thiess prize – as the world’s best cared-for river because of the way the quality of the water has been improved over the past fifty years or so.
Nothing if not ambitious
Last year in this column, I wrote that I thought the authorities should introduce a mandatory test and a licence of competence before anyone was allowed to take a boat out on the water – and several people jumped down my throat, berating me for proposing to introduce more bureaucracy into our leisure time.