rivers2cross

Preparations are now in full flow for Henley Regatta which starts in less than two weeks. The influx of rowers has already begun, and this weekend it’s the Women’s Regatta. I was driving through the town before 7.00am this morning, so I was able to stop close to the bridge and nip out to capture this scene.

I work about 3 miles outside Henley at Medmenham, so I go through the town every day. It’s a place with strong family connections and memories. Mum was born there in a pub! Sadly The Sun Inn is no longer there, but Mum lived there with her parents from 1936-1938 before they moved to The Coach and Horses at Maidenhead (now called The Shire Horse) where she lived during WW2 and right up until they moved into our old family home they built in 1963. They married in 1960 and stayed at the pub for a couple of years, and it was how Dad was “qualified” to be buried at Littlewick Church close-by to the pub in 2009.

Dad rowed at Maidenhead Rowing Club, and although he stopped rowing once they were married, the club was always a focal point of their social life for the rest of their lives. As a result Henley Regatta was also part of that and they went every year until Dad died in 2009.

As a result I’ve always felt close to them when I am in and around Henley. Plenty of happy memories. In fact one of my first ever memories in life, aged around 3, was walking out in front of a car at The Little Angel pub car park and almost being run over and potentially ending my life there and then! When we were young children birthday treats would involve meals at the old Berni Inn, The Catherine Wheel (now a Wetherspoons). Sometimes when Dad picked me up from playing school sports on a Saturday morning we would come back via Henley and we would stop at The Imperial Hotel (also long since closed) near the railway station for a drink. Once I left school for a number of years pub crawls around Henley on Saturday nights happened most weekends ending up at Stallones night club! I can’t remember the last time I went out in Henley for a night out these days. This will go some way to explaining why I go to the regatta each year and applied for membership to the Stewards Enclosure x