The Victoria Shadow Association

 

Thames Rally to Cookham - 2009

 

The Thames Rally to Cookham took place on Saturday, 9th May and was organised by John and Gillian Walker, in the absence of a Chairman (Motor-Cruisers). John and Gillian own the soft-top version of the Shadow 26, 'Heavenly Daze', which had come downstream from its usual base at Wargrave. The weather for the event was fine with sunny intervals and you can see the sunshine in some of the photographs. Paul and Patsy's Shadow 26 is the more usual hard-top version, 'Rebwelly'. They had also come downstream from Wargrave. 'Jolly Olly', another Shadow 26, is owned by Peter and Carol Hunt and they had come slightly further from the Thames and Kennet Marina on the outskirts of Reading.

John and Gillian Walker, Peter Cosker, Patsy and Paul Townsend

 

Rebwelly		Jolly Olly

 

Ocho Rios		Red Robbin

 

We were very pleased that John and Gillian invited some of their friends along as guests and even more pleased that they arrived by water in their own boats. David and Elaine are pictured by their Fairline Mirage, 'Ocho Rios', which is looking very smart with its colour co-ordinated blue fenders. Just behind is David and Jill's Princess 30 DS, 'Red Robbin', also with colour co-ordinated fenders but in red!

John, Elaine, Jill , David and Gillian

 

White Rose of York		Dave, Paul, Patsy, John, Gillian and Angela

 

'White Rose of York' with Dave and Angela was the last boat to arrive, having come all the way from Pangbourne. We wondered where they might moor, as there didn't seem much room at all. However, Dave skilfully manoeuvred and managed to fit between 'Red Robbin' and 'Heavenly Daze', just! That gave us our final count of boats; 4 Shadow 26's and 2 others, a total of 6. We were very pleased that George and Gloria Warrilow came to the rally and dinner but were sorry to learn that 'Cascade III' had engine problems and they couldn't come on their boat. Also present were Anne Grubb (Chairman), John Tyer (South Coast Regional Organiser) and myself, Peter Cosker (Website Editor).

Not much room at either end for White Rose of York!

 

Later in the afternoon, we gathered aboard 'Heavenly Daze' to enjoy some pre-dinner drinks and savouries before walking the short distance along the towpath to The Ferry, a restaurant right at the water's edge just by the bridge. The meal was excellent and was made that much more enjoyable by the pleasant company. If you missed Cookham this time, you might like to know that Peter and Carol (Kate) Hunt have volunteered to organise the next Thames Rally, which is on Saturday, 12th September 2009 in the Kennet Canal near Reading. We should like to finish by thanking John and Gillian for all their efforts in organising a superb rally. Thank You!