An occasional look at the ebb and flow of the Thames
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.
One of the joys of writing a column like Riverwatch is that I’ve met so many lovely people who have special memories of the Thames over the years.
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.
How many times, as a boat owner, have you stood and puzzled over a technical dilemma?
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.
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.
To anyone who spends time messing about in boats of all kinds, the dangers inherent in a life on the water are always there in the background.
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.
Ron Stevens has contacted me from his home in Ashford to pass on a lovely story based on a would-be angling trip he experienced in 1942 whilst he was working as a Corporal Vehicle Mechanic serving with the Royal Army Service Corps in Feltham.
Hooray, it’s March – and spring is just around the corner. Okay, it’s still blooming cold and that north-east wind is proving incredibly persistent, but at least the hours of daylight are increasing and there are the obvious stirrings all round the garden as nature prepares to share its colourful bounty.