We were away from Hampton Court by 9:30 on Wednesday morning (1st May) turning once again downstream ...
and approaching Thames Ditton ... does anyone know what the brick warehouse/factory type building is/was in the photos above?
(see Kevin's comment below)
Standing guard over the wrecks
Cruising to the right of Ravens Ait where we can see the tower of St Raphael's Roman Catholic Church in the distance
In sight of Kingston Bridge but not the visitor moorings yet ... will there be a space for us?
It looked (above) that there may be but when I zoom in it's not a mooring space. George turns Still Rockin' so that we can take a closer look ...
nb Huffler has been leap frogging us for the past few days
Two spaces there ... one behind Jaqandan and one in front of the pink boat on the right above ...
I wonder if there's anyone on the on The Billet?
There was and they very kindly moved closer to the boat behind them and we managed to get in the space with a cat's whisker to spare!
As boaters do, we got chatting with Jackie and Jerry the owners of this lovely hotel boat and they were telling us that they had recently purchased The Billet and were now a few months into their first season. They are lovely people and I can imagine how friendly and welcoming they are to all their guests. We met up with them again in the evening for drinks and hope to meet them again in the future.
Good luck Jackie and Jerry for great first season.
What a surprise we had soon after we'd moored up at Kingston when we heard a knock on the boat and there was Ray from the Wey aka Stronghold. We chatted for a short time only as he was soon going off on the tide to Brentford in an hour or so. Good to see you again Ray and looking forward to reading about your adventures this summer ... happy cruising!
Sailing dinghies at sunset in Kingston on Thames.
We're on the move again tomorrow ... it'll be a big day for us ... guess where we're going?
Well this is what the mystery building is partly occupied by today... https://www.surbitongolfstudio.co.uk/ and by this...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nuffieldhealth.com/gyms/surbiton but I can't find any history though :(
Amazing, thanks Kevin, I couldn't find anything about it at all!
ReplyDeleteHi Carol. I love your blogs. I’m pretty sure that the building used to be part of the British Water Board. They used to have a very big site just there.
ReplyDeleteJenny nb Misty Dawn
Thanks for your comment Jenny of nb Misty Dawn, you could very well be right about the building having association with BWB. Glad that you're enjoying the blog posts.
ReplyDeleteHello, You are on our home turf - I have been past this building by road many times. It is an old pumping station (listed) - see attached info plus wiki entry for Seething Wells.
ReplyDeletehttp://seethingwellswater.org/Seething_Wells_-_Surbitons_Hidden_Heritage.html
May give you a wave later this summer.
Carol NB Simply Messing
Wow Carol on nb Simply Messing! That really is interesting, I shall do a bit more research on that. Thank you for commenting and please do give us a call and a wave if you see us passing. Where about's are you moored?
ReplyDeleteCarol