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Henley Women's Regatta 20th - 22nd June 2014

A short explanation of the races from Wikipedia 

Henley Women's Regatta (sometimes referred to as Women's Henley) is a rowing regatta held at Henley-on-Thames, England. It was formed as a result of the lack of women's events at Henley Royal Regatta and first held in 1988.
Women's Henley is held on the same stretch of the Thames as Henley Royal but the course is shorter 1,500 m (Henley is 2,112 m) and stops at the Remenham Club. It takes place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 2 weeks before Henley Royal.
Since 2004 the regatta has used Intermediate, Senior and Elite categories instead of College, Club and Open. This is still up for further review and may change again in the near future.

 The Women's Regatta is half the length of the Men's but does seem to get a lot of support, the crowds down by Temple Island were cheering and applauding enthusiastically

 So far these pictures are of young ladies rowing up river towards the course.

 The busy River Thames with cabin cruisers and the like on it occasionally need the services of the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service. Hopefully the ladies will not need this in their boats!  I was told by one girl in WH Smith that her friend was in the races and had blisters all up her legs due to racing!  These women can look after themselves, strong legs and arms !

 The losers at the finish of the race, very close to the Umpire's Launch

 Some ladies rowing in a race

 A cheeky tourist moored at the finish post watching proceedings!

An Umpire's launch.

To finish a rather shoddy video I shot at then end of one race this afternoon

May Fair at Mill End Meadows etc May the 14th (sorry for the delay in posting !)

The May Fair on the 14th was well attended, and the pictures here were taken at the start of the event before the crowds built up

The pictures above were of the Ferret Races which were very entertaining, even if one Ferret got stuck in a box and did not turn round and finish the race!

Not Mods, or even Rockers, just  a rally of Vespar owners, supported by a few bikers

The grandstand for the Regatta spends the winter moored on the other side of the river near to Phyllis Court.  Here it has reached its position for the Reggata.

The Virgin Balloon touching down over the Marlow Road

Wildfowl feeding Thameside Today

My wife likes feeding the wildfowl on the river. I love seeing them Today two young Egyptian Geese came along for a feed, also some ducks. The ducks squabbled between themselves, but the Geese were left alone and did not seem at all worried by the ducks. Walking back to New Street this afternoon we saw a swan with six cygnets - a cheeful site as well

Phylliss Court Club

Not far from the entrance of Phyliss Court on the Marlow Road are two buildings which used to be a toll gate in past times. Turning off the Marlow Road you will come to some Apartment buildings in a private road. I was there recently for a charity sale and took advantage of my visit to sample the landscape, the other side of the gates. It is an exclusive members club, that hogs part of the river bank, possibly one of the nicest views on the Marlow Road side of the River. In the 1800's people like the Mairs at Phyllis Court, or Frank Crisp at Friar Park engaged with the town in various ways, sometimes throwing their houses and gardens open on special occasions. The grounds of Phyllis Court, in particular, became a favourite viewing point for the Regatta, before the house itself was acquired for the private Phyllis Court Club in 1906.

Fireworks in Henley on Thames 3rd May

I wonder where these fireworks came from. Was it Phyllis Court or the Leander Club? 

It is a pity that the fireworks are so noisy, as if you listen at the end it clearly upsets wildlife and dogs, and no doubt other pets and animals.

Here is a short video I made, it only features the very end of what sounded like a long aerial display.

Enjoy!

A selection of pictures, information etc

I have been busy decorating the outside of my home, and have managed to do half of it. The weather has turned wet, let us pray that the flooding will not return. I noticed yesterday that the water was beginning to cover the floating moorings Thameside. The preparations for the Henley Regatta have started. Sodexo have posted up planning permission notices regarding the sale of alcoholic drinks this year. It seems highly unlikely that anyone will object, On the Thames Path side of the river they have started to build rather executive looking marquees for the Regatta. I took a picture of these last night

Thanks to blog visitor Susan for this information "Friday Street is called Friday because there used to be a pond at the bottom where the residents would buy fish to be eaten on 'Fridays'...also Duke Street was originally 'Duck Street'"  I will soon be including some local history information I have gleaned from a library of books I am building up. Also from the fabulous local collection of books in the Henley Public Library.

We had a great evening recently at the Kenton Theatre in New Street. It is a pity that the performer Bob Dury was an hour late coming on to the stage. He said it was due to traffic delays. He should have allowed for traffic james etc, not at all professional. He however was good. Below is a You Tube video of part of the show that he did at another theatre.

Last Thursday the Market took a different turn, there were lots of stalls selling cooked food etc, The lady working the spinning wheel told me how relaxing a hobby spinning was. It didn't look like that to me, a lot of hand-eye and foot coordination is needed.

 

Bank Holiday Monday was a rather wet day, but we visited Dusty Springfield's memorial in the grave yard of St Mary the Virgin Church - a message from a fan was on the flowers left there.

 

Here is one of my favourite Dusty Springfield songs for you to listen to, and hopefully enjoy

On Bank Holiday Monday we took a trip up to Dusty Springfield's memorial in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard.

The Chantry House which has been beautifully preserved using money from a lottery grant of around  1.5 million pounds.

They serve coffee and teas most Sundays on Monday during a bank holiday. Thanks to the Ladies there for lovely cakes, my favourite was there - coffee cake with butter cream icing.  The chairman of the committee was on  hand to show us the upper meeting room and explain about the history of the building.  

From a visit Henley site

The Chantry House is a high-status, late medieval timber-framed building on the east side of Henley churchyard, north of the the church. Its main two floors open into the churchyard; below is a bottom floor which, because of a sharp drop in ground level, faces only eastwards to the river, and is accessed through the yard of the Red Lion inn.

The name suggests that it housed some of Henley's medieval chantry priests, but in fact the name originated only during the early 20th century. Others have suggested that it fulfilled a commercial use associated with the river, or a communal one associated with parish life. Either way it is the finest timber-framed building in Henley, and on the churchyard side was clearly designed for show.

For further details see stmaryshenley.org.uk

 

This is how wet is was on Bank Holiday Monday, I did not wear a coat or have and umbrella, so the rain was soaking into my shirt!

 

Finally a lovely site for me, a rabbit lover, a picture of the smallest and youngest rabbits I saw this morning at the gate leading to the Henley Hawks rugby ground by the river.