A long way from home!

This afternoon I went for a bike ride along the towpath and saw lots of boats moored near Hampton Court. This one caught my attention because of its name and its paintwork. I looked up Debdale Wharf and find it is in Leicestershire so they have come quite a way along canals before connecting with the Thames. The boat alongside was from Watford. I also discovered that more than one narrow boat can have the same name but they all have a unique number. Also on the river were many electric motor boats like the little one in the photo. They can be hired at Kingston and another similar type by Hampton Court Bridge. There are also rowing boats for hire near Hampton Court Bridge but…none seemed to be in use at 3.30pm…maybe people are lazier than they used to be? Old photos of people on the Thames show large numbers of people rowing and in skiffs etc, in their Sunday best too. 
The towpath was very busy so I went for an explore around some of the streets of Molesey, some lovely big  old houses from when Hampton Court station was first built. I passed the Molesey Boat Club house on the river…see extra. The brothers Johnny and Greg Searle together with cox Gary Herbert were from this club and won a gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona a Olympics.
More medals for Britain today and maybe successes in the athletics tonight.

Earlier on the day we went to see the grandchildren having their last cricket session for this year. Next year they will be in an actual team ..under 9’s. After that they were going to have a fun football session with some friends and this afternoon to their regular gymnastics class….a very sporty day for them!