Tag: Thames

Christmas 12th Night celebrations on the River Thames with the Lion’s Part

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The Holly Man arrives and addresses the crown outside the Globe Theatre on
London’s South Bank. As usual, click on the thumbnails for larger photos

We travelled to the South Bank of the River Thames in London today to see the Holly Man land from a Thames waterman’s cutter and the doughty Lion’s Part perform their carols and Mumming Play. I didn’t get the name of the boat type correct to begin with – so thanks to Chris Partridge for his comment below.

I brought along my fiddle to lend a hand with the music, but by golly it was cold for a fiddler’s fingers. Julie meanwhile took these photos despite the considerable crowd.

The play was as topical and amusing as one could wish, and The Lion’s Part’s troupe of professional actors includes some very sharp performers. I was particularly impressed with their Doctor – the Doctor in these plays always has the best part, but this particular one seemed to have been born to play it.

See  similar intheboatshed.net post from last year: http://intheboatshed.net/?p=276


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The play in progress; the Turkish Knight; musicians and crowd

Environment Agency to keep lock-keepers’ houses on the Thames

The Environmental Agency has decided to keep lock keepers’ cottages
along the banks of the Thames. This example is at Sonning

The Environment Agency has decided it now wishes to maintain the chain of resident lock and weir keepers at each of its 45 lock sites along the River Thames.

The organisation changed its mind after staff, MPs, river users and those who live in the flood plain raised objections to earlier proposals to sell off ten of the lock keepers’ cottages.

It still plans to sell some houses, but these will be properties that are not either on or adjacent to locks and weirs.

‘We are confident that this proposal will address the concerns raised previously, while ensuring that we are able to use the assets we no longer need to raise money which we can reinvest in managing the river,’ said EA regional director Howard Davidson.

He added that no lock and weir staff will be made homeless or redundant as a result of any decision on lock houses and that staff in the five off-site houses due to be sold will be moved into houses at or adjacent to a lock in due course.

The EA says that it currently own 57 lock houses, and that of these, 52 are on or adjacent to lock sites.

For more intheboatshed.net posts relating to the River Thames, click here.

Restored slipper launch Wishbone at the 2008 Earl’s Court Sail, Power & Watersports Show

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Thames Traditional Boat Rally Prize-winning slipper launch Wishbone.
Click on the photo for a larger image

Many intheboatshed.net readers will be interested in Wishbone, a Thames slipper launch due to appear at the Sail, Power & Watersports Show due to take place at Earl’s Court from the 26th to the 30th November.

Wishbone is in fact a Baby Greyhound model built by Andrews in 1931, and was restored in 2004 by Stewart Marine of Harts Boatyard, which is on the river near Kingston upon Thames. She has won the Top Boat Award at the Thames Traditional Boat Rally on three occasions, and I’m told she’ll probably be the oldest boat at the show.

See the Stewart Marine website at http://www.hartsboats.com. By the way, if the name Stewart is familiar, it may be because he won a Bronze Medal sailing keelboats in the 1992 Olympics.

Stewart Marine’s brokerage list currently includes Willow, a 1920s Messums rowing and sailing skiff complete with all sailing and rowing equipment, and Swift, a 20ft rowing rowing gig built by Turks’ in 1911, complete with a sliding seat, outriggers and two sets of blades said to be all in in fantastic condition. Now that’s two real objects of desire, I’d say!

There’s a short and rather incomplete entry on slipper launches at the Wikipedia, but I don’t know enough to sort it out. Is there anyone around with the knowledge, time and energy to fix it?

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