SS Atlantica, 28th May

I have been wanting to go to SS Atlantica for yonks – probably since I set up my Meetup group four years ago, but as it’s a once-a-year deal, getting to it proved tricky. I always seemed to have plans by the time they released the date. Not so this year.

So on a balmy evening we dressed in our finest evening wear and boarded the SS Atlantica for a jaunt along the Thames or two. We sipped champagne and enjoyed the views, and then spent some time in the belly of the boat drinking in the live hot jazz and taking part in illicit gambling. Which was all very fun. But this entertainment was short lived and soon it was general drinking and dancing and I must admit, we got a little bored by it. At midnight the boat docked to let people off who wished to disembark early (the night finished at 2 am) and most of my crowd agreed we should have got off at that point rather than go another lap onboard. While being on the Thames is always nice, I’m not sure it was worth the slightly elevated price compared to other B & H events, and I don’t think I’ll bother with it next year.

Hammerton Ferry, 9th August

This is another one of those London oddities, which don’t offer much other than the chance to say you’ve done it. As it was a nice day, we wanted to do something outside, so we traveled over to the very West to take a trip on Hammerton’s ferry.

Once upon a time, before there were so many bridges that spanned the Thames, to journey from one side to the other, you relied on a ferryman to take you across. Hammerton’s ferry is one of the longest (if not the longest) running ferries across the Thames, having been in service since the very early 1900s.

We got off at St. Margaret’s and walked down. The route is clearly signposted. What a lovely place St. Margaret’s is, and I’d never even heard of it before we looked up how to get to Marble Hill House, where you catch the ferry. We got there and milled about on the dock for a bit, not entirely sure if we were in the right place or what to do. The lady who hires out the row boats that you can get from the same point came out and when we said we were waiting for the ferry, told us he was just loading on the other side. We then easily spotted him and his passengers coming over to us. They disembarked and we hopped on.

The ferry crossing is £1 per adult and 50p per child. It takes all of 2 minutes to go from one side to the other. It had taken us about 40 minutes to get there. Oh well! One of the nice things about seeking out these things to do in London is that they often help you discover a part of London you wouldn’t have chanced upon otherwise. So afterwards we wandered through the Ham House gardens and then walked east as far as we could before we got tired. We followed along the Thames, coming across the Petersham Nurseries, and walking  past Kew Gardens. It was a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon.