Another boat, another new member..
This was the twelfth Arrow trip-and our third on a boat. We started at Thames Ditton boatyard just up from Kingston with blazing sunshine. We were joined this year by Matthew for the first time. Along with Chris who came aboard for a couple of days our numbers swelled to six, our biggest yet. Nic indulged in a little brinkmanship by flying in from Belfast during the morning, arriving just in time to avoid any of the work in loading the boat. Strange that…
Fact Panel
Details
Trip Date:
June 1996
Transport:
Ford Mondeo
Accommodation:
Cabin Cruiser
Duration:
Six Days
Cost of Trip Per Person:
£300
Video:
Sony TR-800 Hi8 Video Camera
Rating:
Good
Members Attending
Thames Trivia
County
Thames Valley
Population:
0
Known For:
Fish, Second Longest River in UK.
Where is the River Thames?
Day One: Saturday
There was the usual "this is how to damage the boat" pep talk from the boatyard bod, he was particularly impressed when he tried to demonstrate the fridge and 20 cans of beer fell out. Fortunately his foot cushioned their fall, so that was OK.
With this done, it was foot down, engage engine warp drive and with the needles in the red at almost 6mph, we were off. The next day we headed off to Windsor Castle, which was big, expensive and castle-shaped. Windsor and Eton is a pleasant enough place with a useful collection of pubs which what counts the most. Needless to say these were sampled extensively until we fell over. After that it was back to the boat again for some apres-drink drinks.
Spurning the usual tourist trap of Hampton Court Palace, our guiding star was the Cygnet Pub near Walton. Just for a change we spent the evening drinking unwise quantities of ale and amusing the locals with our special Darts tournaments rules. Retiring to the boat, we indulged in the Olympic sport of Speed Table-Dismantling.
See table below:
Speed Table Dismantling, 1996
Clark, M 15.8s
Clark, C 42.3s
Swinson, M 33.3s
Bestwick,S 210.6s And disqualified for shoving.
Day Two-Four: Sunday - Tuesday
And so the journey continued through the week in similar fashion. We managed to capture a lot of video footage as the scenery was so nice along most of the Thames. Chris disembarked when we reached Maidenhead on Monday, so we were one lighter. We sailed on up the river to Marlow, Henley-on-Thames, Reading and reached our furthest point at South Stoke on Tuesday evening. It was here that we had a very expensive meal at a pub called the Pike and Perch. A sirloin steak cost £13.50! I arsk ya…and what did Matthew do with it? Smother it in ketchup. The culinary heathen!
Day Five-Six: Wednesday-Thursday
We made a slow way back, staying at Aston near Henley-on-Thames on Wednesday. We drank at a pub called the Flower Pot, which was a really nice place. We went back to the boat , but failed to notice that Nic was missing. So Mark was despatched to fetch him. 20 minutes later there was no sign of him either. So Matt was despatched. No sign! It was like a Hammer horror film! So eventually all 3 turned up after finding Nic who had fallen in a brook near the river, sans shoes. Obviously drunk…
The next day we set off once again down the river. We shot a few sketches for the video, continuing the 'Lard' theme from last years trip. There was also an incident regarding which flag you could fly. Apparently you cannot fly the union jack unless the Queen is on board, you have to fly the Red Ensign instead. A lockkeeper pulled us up on it. Certainly plenty of mileage from that one. There was also a visit the next day to Runnymede, and we berthed at Cookham for the night on Thursday, leaving for home on Friday morning.
An enjoyable trip, then, with good weather and plenty of ale it was over for another year. The next year saw us a little cooler in Whitby, and back to camping out again in gale force winds.
