Posted on August 3, 2013 By Blazer Bear
We were really lucky this weekend, to be invited to spend a day on the Thames on a friends boat. It was a beautiful sunny day and we set off near Chertsey where the boat moored to pick us up after a rather stressful M25 journey. Literally the moment I stepped onto the boat I felt myself relax and sat with a wisteria laden bridge behind me ready to set off, glass of wine in hand.
There were 14 of us and our plan was to travel via Hampton Court Palace to the Albany Pub for lunch and back again. We had 3 locks to negotiate and plenty of time on our hands. The kids loved it! They were hands on with the moorings and lock negotiation and enjoyed steering the boat under the watchful eye of our friend, an experienced sailor.
It was amazing to see river life from a different point of view and some of the houses were incredible – reminder to self, start doing the lottery again! However, even the smallest garden house looked like the perfect place to sit on such a gorgeous day.
The locks varied in size. Some of the rental boats trying to work out how to enter the locks, made for quite stressful watching!! I can just imagine us attempting to keep calm, no doubt very unsuccessfully, if we were to hire one and find ourselves squished between 5 large boats in a lock, with little clue what the protocol was! It did make me very thankful to be with an experienced boater! Another glass on wine was much more up my street!
The pub was set on the river and the food was delicious. We were even treated to the Queen’s Royal barge, which passed by as we finished our puddings. Full and feeling sun kissed we returned via Hampton Court Palace. I have never seen so many chimneys and the beautiful golden gates were refurbished. Apparently costing £1000000 a pair!
We also passed all the mariners and rowers clubs. Having built several bears from sporting memorabilia such as rowing vests, and having rowed myself, I really enjoyed seeing the various boats and teams practicing on the river. We even had a go at kayaking once we had reached our destination…unfortunately not all of us were as practiced on the water as I feared, and some us spent the journey home in rather damp clothing! We are building a bear from my friend’s favourite sailing jumper as a unique gift to say ‘thank you’!
Friends since their first children were born, Pru and Kathy are two mums whose children are now at secondary school. As a special keepsake Pru made each of her children a teddy bear out of their old school Blazers. Kathy loved the concept so they joined forces and Blazer Bear. was born. Find out more
Whether it be a blazer, school uniform, rugby shirts, precious clothing babygros, the list is endless. Everything is lovingly handcrafted entirely from what you give us. If it is a group school order you are after, we can often source the fabrics and even incorporate a school emblem Find out