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Central Hall Westminster welcomes Paul Southern
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The magnificent Central Hall Westminster is located at the edge of Parliament Square opposite Westminster Abbey.
It has just appointed Paul Southern as the new Managing Director.
Paul has previously been involved in event and consultancy roles and wants to promote Central Hall with its halls and facilities to corporate, public and private organisations.
We wish him all the best. |
Congratulations to David Walliams-
"King of the river, conqueror of the mighty Thames!"
He'd been swiiming for 8 long days from Oxford's Upper Thames at Lechlade to raise over £1,000,000 for Sports Relief -a hugely good cause previously endorsed by the TV star in his 2006 cross Channel £1 million swim.
He finally reached London's mighty, tidal Thames from Teddington to Westminster on Monday's final leg of the marathon swim. Thousands greeted him along the last few hundred yards on both sides of the river and Westminster Bridge. Hauling himself out of the river at the steps near the London Eye he was greeted by dozens of TV cameras and hundreds of London's eager well wishers- and a few baffled Russian and Italian tourists too.
Barely out of the water and he was waving from the balcony just above the London Aquarium and thanking the crowd with an unnervingly confident voice. No stumbling, faultering,crumbling voice from one who had just completed such an exhausting task-some 140 or is it 150 miles in the water. No time to change his wet-suit, shave or accomplish any other of life's essential tasks.
With the support of many, he has achieved a great personal conquest but just before disappearing for more TV interviews, he shared the balcony with Brarbara Windsor, star of many Carry on films, TV etc and in particular her own swim-wear epic.
Again, well done David Walliams for a great personal sacrifice and thanks too for raising the profile of the wonderful Thames-including its downside, like Weils disease and the concerns over sewage- courtesy of recent heavy rains and Thames Water's storm relief measures!
September 12th 2011
The 2011 Thames Traditional Boat Rally Fawley Meadows Henley on Thames
The weekend of 16th and 17th July 2011 saw one of the River Thames's most fascinating events, the Thames Traditional Boat Rally. This rally is a wonderful display of traditionally built craft of
any age, and both powered and unpowered. It showed off the very finest examples of British boatbuilding skills, and ranged from the quaintly named "slipper stern" launches, steam launches, vintage speedboats, punts and "Gentlemen's day boats", and people could see the acres of varnished wood and polished brass ( such a change from the currently fashionable fibreglass floating "palaces" that charge up and down the river!)
In particular two steam launches, Pierette and Consuta, (which were both built in the 1890's) made an appearance at the rally, and Pierette won the won the "Best in Show" award. Consuta is a steam "Umpire's Launch" and normally officiates as an umpire launch at Goring and Streatley Regatta. She was built in 1897 of four veneers of mahogany. Also appearing this year were a fleet of Dutch skiffs, and some of the Dunkirk Little Ships which famously rescued soldiers from the British Army in 1940 from the beaches in Dunkirk.
There were also some fine displays of vintage motor cars, veteran cycles and boat building skills and a beautiful Illuminated Parade of the boats as they "lit up" and took part in the sail-past.
The Thames Traditional Boat Rally was as successful as ever!
Report by Jeannette Briggs. Photos courtesy Robin Ford
2011 Best Thames Local- Area Winners, eligible for the grand draw 13th July 2011
The 2011 Best Thames Local award was made at Windsor Marina in typical Thames style Thursday 14th-on board one of the luxurious craft in the fleet of the day's hosts- BoatingHolidayRentals.co.uk holiday specialists.
Michelle Morris and Mark Forster newly installed (January 2011) licencees of the winning establishment
The George Inn Walton on Thames were presented with the trophy by Donna Kelly from our hosts.
RTG director Stephen Worsfold presented a useful £1000 cheque before they set off for an hour's glorious cruise along the rural Thames at Windsor, Oakely Court and Bray, skippered expertly by Steve Pantony (Boats Operations Manager) from BoatingHolidayRentals.co.uk (Our cruise donated by the firm.)
The Best Thames Local 2011 winner was selected on 13th July at property developer ‘St George's premises in Chelsea Creek,’- taken from the exclusive top 10 area winners.
All were winners in their area -no mean achievement which we applaud.
The Installation of Paul Ludwig as Master of the
Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames
Wednesday July 13th saw one of the City of London's ancient ceremonies that make up the rich tapestry of our civic traditions when the Company of Watermen and Lightermen installed Paul Ludwig as their Master.
The installation took place at the beautiful Georgian Watermen's Hall in St. Mary at Hill, near The Tower of London. After the official installation Paul Ludwig processed down to All Hallows by the Tower accompanied by his fellow Watermen and Lightermen, in their traditional robes and splendid red tunics with silver badges.
The Annual Service at All Hallows was conducted by the Watermen's Honorary Chaplain, the Rev. Bertrand Olivier and was full of reference to the river, ships and the sea - as you might expect.
Following the service Paul Ludwig and his Watermen led the way past the Tower of London and Tower Bridge down to St Katharine's pier where they boarded a ship to sail upriver for a celebratory luncheon.
We wish Paul Ludwig hearty congratulations on his installation as Master and hope he has a splendid and memorable year in office. Report and photographs by Jeannette Briggs
The Olympic Park is Nearly Ready!
With just over 12 months to go the exciting news right now is that the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford East London is nearly ready for the 2012 Games. The Park includes the Olympic Village and many of the venues that will host the various sporting disciplines that make up the Games.
First and foremost of these is - of course - the Olympic Stadium, the location for all the Athletic events. This is a simple construction designed specifically for the Athletics, but capable of being partially dismantled after the Games to re-invent itself as a football stadium and entertainments complex.
The amazing Aquatics Centre is also finished - it has a specially designed roof which has been likened to a giant ray, and is fitted with temporary extra seating for the Games, which will be dismantled when they are over. The other iconic structure on the Park is the Velodrome which has been nicknamed "The Giant Pringle" by locals, because it looks like the popular snack. Both buildings will be an enormous and lasting benefit to the local population and to the sports themselves after the Olympic Games have finished.
Among things that will remain -and which are already enhancing the Olympic Park - are the vast numbers of trees, plants, flowers and grasslands whicb have been specially planted to create a lovely natural atmosphere in this densely populated part of East London.
The trees are already attracting birds and insects and other wildlife and will be a lasting legacy of the 2012 Games.
The waterways that fringe the Park have also received a complete makeover, and will provide miles of beautiful canalside walks and opportunities for leisure boating, fishing, cycling and walking after the Olympic Games are over.
To sum up, we can say that the Olympics in East London are for everyone to enjoy in the future, and not just for 2012. Roll on July 2012 when we can show off the Olympic Park to the whole world!
Report by Jeannette Briggs
Exciting Floating River Park Planned for the River Thames
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced that a floating Boardwalk will be constructed alogside the norh bank of the River Thames from Blackfriars to the Tower. Completion is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics. The Boardwalk will be constructed on floating Pontoons and will provide a continuous pedestrian walkway linking most of London's most visited tourist attractions. It is intended that 8 Pavilions themed on topics like transport, innovation and culture will also be constructed and linked along the Boardwalk. Boris Johnson hailed the new venture, saying that he and the constructors will work together to ensure that one of the most famous and cherished waterfronts in the world is enhanced by the venture. The River Thames Guide supports this imaginative and exciting venture.
The Royal Wedding 29th April.
Not strictly an event on the River Thames, but close enough and important enough to be a must be included item. We didn't have the access to Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace but took just advantage of whatever public viewing points we could to get a couple of memorable images of the great event. The crowds had gathered days before we arrived -and we got to The Mall 5 hours before the wedding. There were easily 500,000 people there and the event was watched by millions in UK and world-wide.
Good luck to the happy couple. Here's hoping they may enjoy a long period of private married life away now from the glare of publicity. They shared enough yesterday.
Best Thames Local - Voting 1st May.
The Best Thames Local 2011 competition commenced with on- line nomination from 15th February to 15th April. There will be 10 Area winners. The competition is trying to find the Best Thames Local-pub, restaurant and café and the overall winner will receive a £1000 cash prize. The competition is a well-established annual event run by the web-site RTG Publishing on www.riverthames.co.uk
Nomination period has finished now and we are compiling the short list for publication 1st May
The prize will be presented mid July at an event on the River Thames-to be announced.
"March 2011 : 5pm : Oxford v Cambridge fight out the annual gruelling Boat Race up the Thames from Putney"
Many thousands of Londoners and visitors for the day lined the banks of the Thames and the bridges along the route enjoying a lovely spring afternoon, which became dull and almost dark for the actual race.
As always it was anybody's race and last year's close defeat was forgotten as Oxford triumphed by a good margin, and by all accounts it was a popular win.
The trophy was presented by Lord Patten who stepped in at the last minute on behalf of Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt who was delayed by traffic. Sadly, the 157th Boat Race marked the penultimate occasion the race will be sponsored by the highly supportive X-Changing Financial Group
Full Review to follow
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Homeless Hero of the River Thames Receives Prestigious Award
A heartwarming story has emerged of a young homeless man, who plunged into the icy waters of the River Thames near Blackfriars last November to save a woman who was drowning. Adan Abobaker heard the woman's screams and dived in- he is a strong swimmer and managed to pull the woman to safety. Adan was living in a St Mungo's hostel for the homeless but British Swimming heard about the story and chose him to receive its prestigious Big Splash award, which was presented to Adan by the Olympic swimming star Ian Thorpe. British Swimming is now training Adan to be a lifeguard or swimming coach. He has a home now and is in regular touch with the woman whose life he saved.
Report by Jeannette Briggs
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