Chelmsford & District National Trust Supporter Group

Report by Shirley Deering.

Our new season of evening meetings began on Wednesday, 11th October, with a talk by our old friend, Tony Tuckwell, entitled “Three Men Without a Boat”. Beautifully illustrated with his own stunning photographs, Tony gave a detailed account of how he and two friends (both called Mike) had walked the 184 miles of the Thames-side footpaths during 2007 to 2009.<]

Tony and his friends walked to, and through London. Tony was a mine of information about every town and village they passed through. Everyone had some royal, historical or literary association. Likewise, Tony was just as informative about every bridge, lock and weir. The weirs were originally constructed by monks living in the monasteries bordering the Thames, of which not a trace now remains.

Some of the bridges Tony showed us are works of art in themselves, others are feats of engineering, but very few combine the two qualities! At Datchet the bridge built in 1927 replaced one designed by Prince Albert, while bridges built by Brunel and Wren still survive. Some famous landmarks from a different perspective included Eton College and Tate Modern,and Tony found the view of Windsor Castle particularly impressive. There are many fine houses near the Thames, some once lived in by famous or infamous people. One was once a favourite venue for successive Princes of Wales, for entertaining their respective mistresses.A house at Mapledurham claims to have been the inspiration for Toad Hall, but, as two other residences make the same claim, who knows! A very interesting and entertaining evening, made extra special by Tony’s impressive knowledge of history.