I am not wealthy but I went to a posh school. I know what privilege and entitlement looks like

I don’t live in Eton but my best-mate does and I’m house-sitting for her. We live – like many people live – in a house build on Eton College land.

The house is on the river opposite Romney Island, beside Romney Weir and on the far side from Romney Lock. We are guarded by the grim flight of cormorants who live in the broken trees,

And the birds are silent sentinels to the devastation of  the weir beyond

A flight of cormorants by Romney Weir- Windsor pic.twitter.com/PR1A8T4ZcX

— Henry Tapper (@henryhtapper) January 5, 2024

Windsor Castle is on the other side

Windsor Castle tonight- the Thames in spate pic.twitter.com/UDl8Fn6Gkl

— Henry Tapper (@henryhtapper) January 5, 2024

Royalty are part of the equation.

We all live within 200 yards of the flood plain

For those who live in Eton , Windsor and along the Thames to

Maidenhead, this is what the Jubilee River does for you. pic.twitter.com/q5sqSOapNR

— Henry Tapper (@henryhtapper) January 5, 2024

You might be wondering how it is that Eton (which is an island) should be betwixt the floods to the east and the floods to the west. The answer is the “Jubilee River”.

The Jubilee River is a 7.2miles relief stream taking excess water from above Maidenhead to below Windsor and Eton , so that the orange (flood risk) and the red (flood) happen in other people’s living rooms.

So the river dumps on Datchet, Wraysbury , Staines and Chertsey. It stacks water up river but leaves Maidenhead, Eton and Windsor in good shape. The pictures above show a calm river, take the train down from Staines to Datchet and see the standing water, the burst banks and the looming threat to these villages and towns.

The Jubilee river also fills up the rowing lake at Dorney, owned by Eton College. That lake was built for nothing with the extrusion rights sold to McAlpine for the cost of the digging. So the Eton school is sitting dry and cosy with a world class rowing facility and the freehold of the nice and dry Eton town and College and the playing fields -thrown in.

It’s good business, it’s good for tourism and it’s all because Eton posh-boys don’t do floods. Eton posh boys do Government and Government is a good way to make sure things stay that way. You’ve got to hand it to them.