Knights Dream
New member
I regularly cruised the River with my own boat in the 90’s and have just returned from two weeks on the river with a great Linsen rental boat hired from Hobbs of Henley with the idea of purchasing something of my own . Great boat and superb service
However I couldn’t believe the reduction in standards of maintenance on the River in the 25 + years since my last visit
Pump out stations not working, water taps broken, vegetation both live and dead along the banks narrowing the channel considerably in places, public mooring areas disappeared or unavailable due to ‘liveaboards’ and other boats, some moored for weeks on “24 hour” moorings! Impossible in some areas of interest to moor. I couldn’t believe the number of abandoned and derelict boats everywhere.
Almost one in three locks were ‘self serve’ which is not great if you are someone incapacitated or old
This is June with fantastic weather and comments all around about how quiet the River was. Unless standards improve considerably the future for pleasure boating is indeed grim! It’s such a beautiful River and it’s users so badly let down by years of neglect
However I couldn’t believe the reduction in standards of maintenance on the River in the 25 + years since my last visit
Pump out stations not working, water taps broken, vegetation both live and dead along the banks narrowing the channel considerably in places, public mooring areas disappeared or unavailable due to ‘liveaboards’ and other boats, some moored for weeks on “24 hour” moorings! Impossible in some areas of interest to moor. I couldn’t believe the number of abandoned and derelict boats everywhere.
Almost one in three locks were ‘self serve’ which is not great if you are someone incapacitated or old
This is June with fantastic weather and comments all around about how quiet the River was. Unless standards improve considerably the future for pleasure boating is indeed grim! It’s such a beautiful River and it’s users so badly let down by years of neglect