This is a photoblog of our five days aboard Lady Lucy for Henley 2014. If you have any photos when you were with us or took photos (like Alex O’Loughlin) from the bank- please send them in.
Henley Royal Regatta takes place over five days in early July. It’s the highpoint of the rowing calendar and though it may not have the significance of an Olympics or World Championship, it provides top oarsmen with memories that keep them coming back.
I don’t claim to be a great oarsman but I still sport my Selwyn College colours and relive the days of my youth when I could compete.
Lady Lucy sits in Hurley mill pond, here is what it looks like at Dawn on a July moring
Hurley is a pretty Berkshire village on the other side of the river from Marlow. Here is the mist lifting from the fields to its south.
I like the walk to my local pub, the Old Bell, I get to meet Larry the Lama
And George the goat
Here’s Harry the heifer who has escaped the field and is gorging on the lush grasses beside my path.
Everywhere you walk through the village, you come across the old farm tracks I love to cycle
The sun and water create the most wonderful effects
And pick up the feathers of Sidney swan
It’s traditional to have flowers on your boat
Each day our guess arrive with food a plenty, here’s Jenny organising the food on Thursday
Lady Lucy has to pass through two locks on her way to Henley.
Never mix beautiful women with alcohol, those are water bottles!
Our guests are diverse and avctive around the boat
And of course support Yeovil Town FC (we’re the green army)
Here’s Ruby the dog and her proud owner!
Our mooring up by the start- the flags spell out “Yeovil Town for the Championship”
Here’s the Queen’s Barge Gloriana making her way in stately fashion up the course on the final day.
Hasn’t anyone told them it has an electric motor?
Another happy crew member keen to endorse Yeovil Town FC (we’re the green army)
Going home on our final day, flags still high!
This may not be the conventional way to sit people on the foredeck but it works for us.
Our dear friend Janthea, a Dunkirk boat just back from celebrating the D-Day landings at the Oostende festival
Back home after five days on the water
And I’ve saved the best saved till last!
“@AlexOLoughlin18: At the #HenleyRoyalRegatta and a boat went past with a @YTFC flagSmall world! #ytfc pic.twitter.com/g8reHLCqWa” was me!
— Henry Tapper (@henryhtapper) July 6, 2014
Lady Lucy is my boat and she’s a shared resource for the Pension Play Pen and all who love boating. If you’d like to come on the river with us, please contact me at henry.tapper@pensionplaypen.com