Monday 10 October 2016

The Ferryman at Bablock Hythe

My good friend and fellow HBBR member Chris Partridge was so impressed with our gentle glide into Autumn that he called a last minute rally for this weekend. Normally we would all be getting the central heating turned on and settling in for a season of Strictly Come Dancing on the telly but a few of us did come out to play. We gathered at the Ferryman Inn at Bablock Hythe on the Thames which is quite near the wonderfully named Kingston Bagpuize, you couldn't make these names up, and you can see where Tolkein got his inspiration. I think we should just re-name the river The Brandywine and be done with it.

As Chris pointed out The Ferryman meets all of our requirements; it has camping, a slipway, and beer. It also had a little of the Royston Vasey about it, i.e. A Local Pub for Local People, one of our party left his coat on someone else's chair and I thought there was going to be an international incident, however we survived unscathed and plan to return again next year.
Here as ever are some photos.









2 comments:

robert.ditterich said...

Am I right in thinking your friend's red boat is a 14ft Paul Fisher design (Lynx?)? I think it maybe the boat featured on Paul's site and if so my youngest son spent hours looking at it before buying those plans when he was a young teenager. That would have been 17 or more years ago....he is now building a 38ft Warram catamaran.
I enjoy reading of your group adventures, thanks!

Graham Neil said...

HI Robert,
Yes its Paul Fisher's Lynx14.
Paul H originally built it with bilge keels and a raised cabin roof which he had discussed with Paul Fisher. After a few years and a bit of cajoling from our friend CW he has converted her to centreboard and dropped the cabin roof down to where the designer originally intended.
I think he's got there now, she certainly sails much better, the discussion has now moved to her rig which is currently a hotch-potch of various bits and pieces.