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Mort's Riverwatch

An occasional look at the ebb and flow of the Thames

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Tag: paddle steamer

History

Memories of a magical – if nerve-wracking – time

09/10/201421/12/2025Mort SmithComment(0)

I’ve always loved the pleasure boats that carry passengers up and down the Thames and I wrote in a recent column that as a youngster in the 1950s I used to enjoy watching the steamers coming and going from the pier at Richmond as they carried passengers upstream to Hampton Court or downstream to Westminster.

Local people

The pleasure of boats

25/09/200827/02/2013Mort SmithComments(2)

So what do you do after you take early retirement at the age of 54 following a career as a computer systems engineer working for British Airways? That was the question facing Derek Beake from Richmond Drive, Shepperton in 1997…

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Get in touch

To contact Mort, email him at mortsmith32@gmail.com or call him on 01787 226974. He’s always pleased to hear from old friends who provided such a wealth of information and great stories for Riverwatch.

These columns appeared in the Surrey Herald.

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