Mirror Painter
Well-Known Member
No real point to this post so press the back button now if easily bored.
I grew up in Slough but moved to Wiltshire as soon as I could. As a teenager I would to cycle to Windsor. Back then, (early 1980's), one could cycle right up to and around the inner grounds of Windsor castle. I used to park my bike by the big cannons pointed at Slough and have a fag. Looking out for coppers of course! After the castle I'd peddle down to the river, the Brocas. There were many more boats about then.
I just now remember asking a man if he owned his boat or had hired it. He firmly told me about red ensigns and explained that if a boat was 'wearing' ( ? ) one it was a probably a private boat and so he jolly well owned his! I think it must have been a Freeman 22. This explains why I am so proud to have a tiny, cheap red ensign on the back of my tiny old cabin cruiser. It's my boat and the flag proves it! As a kid I never, ever thought I would have a boat like those people.
Last week my wife and I watched the Olympic canoeing at Dorney and then took the public boat back to Windsor. There we saw this lovely speedboat:
The two guys had just started the engine, which to my unqualified ear sounded like a V8. It was certainly bigger than the 9.9 OB on my boat
There used to be a little fairground on the land behind where they were. I took a few girls friends there in the olden days and bought at least one of them candy floss. Now there is a kids playground.
Then my wife and I walked across the bridge in to Eton for lunch. Years ago my dad used to smuggle me in to a pub in Eton and leave me with half a Stella, ( I must have been 14). That place is now a Moroccan restaurant. So wife and I walked a bit further to another pub where we paid too much for a cold burger and belligerent service. Then we paid £23 for a mini cab back to my mother's house in Maidenhead. Rip off Britain.
There were very few private boats on the river last week. So few that I felt that next year, perhaps, if I have enough paid leave, I might feel brave enough to bring my tiny boat on a trip from Lechlade to the Brocas - complete with red ensign. If you happen to be the man that told a spotty boy on an orange colored Raleigh about flags I'll buy you a beer. If you are one of the girls I bought candy floss for you can buy me a beer.
I feel old.
I grew up in Slough but moved to Wiltshire as soon as I could. As a teenager I would to cycle to Windsor. Back then, (early 1980's), one could cycle right up to and around the inner grounds of Windsor castle. I used to park my bike by the big cannons pointed at Slough and have a fag. Looking out for coppers of course! After the castle I'd peddle down to the river, the Brocas. There were many more boats about then.
I just now remember asking a man if he owned his boat or had hired it. He firmly told me about red ensigns and explained that if a boat was 'wearing' ( ? ) one it was a probably a private boat and so he jolly well owned his! I think it must have been a Freeman 22. This explains why I am so proud to have a tiny, cheap red ensign on the back of my tiny old cabin cruiser. It's my boat and the flag proves it! As a kid I never, ever thought I would have a boat like those people.
Last week my wife and I watched the Olympic canoeing at Dorney and then took the public boat back to Windsor. There we saw this lovely speedboat:
The two guys had just started the engine, which to my unqualified ear sounded like a V8. It was certainly bigger than the 9.9 OB on my boat
There used to be a little fairground on the land behind where they were. I took a few girls friends there in the olden days and bought at least one of them candy floss. Now there is a kids playground. Then my wife and I walked across the bridge in to Eton for lunch. Years ago my dad used to smuggle me in to a pub in Eton and leave me with half a Stella, ( I must have been 14). That place is now a Moroccan restaurant. So wife and I walked a bit further to another pub where we paid too much for a cold burger and belligerent service. Then we paid £23 for a mini cab back to my mother's house in Maidenhead. Rip off Britain.
There were very few private boats on the river last week. So few that I felt that next year, perhaps, if I have enough paid leave, I might feel brave enough to bring my tiny boat on a trip from Lechlade to the Brocas - complete with red ensign. If you happen to be the man that told a spotty boy on an orange colored Raleigh about flags I'll buy you a beer.
If you are one of the girls I bought candy floss for you can buy me a beer.I feel old.
