D’Oyly Carte Island – our ancestral home?

Then!

Our Association started with a meeting of residential boat owners who moored to this little island on the Thames at Weybridge, in Surrey, in the 60s. There were 15 liveaboard boats round the island then, mostly occupied by young couples, recently married or in partnerships, impecunious, several with young children. The atmosphere amongst them all was wonderful – enjoying their chosen way of life, learning a multitude of new skills like rowing, getting to grips with the ‘interesting’ aspects of living on a boat - chemical toilet emptying, access to and from the mainland, sceptical parents! This is how it looked in the 60s. NB – no bridge!

The island was kept very private, no public access at all, and the early means of access encouraged that, with firstly a rowing boat, into and out of which mums and babes in prams had to be lifted each way, then a chain ferry, which needed winding across and back. When either of these was on the other side when you wanted to get across, it was a case of shouting, no mobiles in those days! In the winter of ‘62/’63, our resourceful landlord found some sections of ex-military pontoon bridges, and he towed them into place with his tug, with a couple of us on the foredeck breaking the ice with our boathooks. That was luxury – being to walk across the river at will! When the ice was thick enough, we could walk across it, and several intrepid boaters posed in front of Shepperton Lock!

Finally, the landlord had designed and made the steel permanent bridge, and then craned it onto the bolts he had set into the concrete foundations on either side, a delicate operation, and successful enough to still be there today. The island camaraderie was vibrant, with parties on any excuse, sometimes involving the boats which were mobile towing dinghies full of firewood to particular places on the river bank for a bonfire, BBQ, music, beer and dancing, occasionally into the river! Friendships prospered and many have endured to today, despite many boaters moving ashore far and wide. Today I stay in touch with friends from that time who live in Oz, Florida, Spain, Suffolk, Kent and Lincolnshire, although that list is reducing, of course!

As well as being resourceful, the island owner - the landlord, was a very domineering guy who regarded us as irritating nuisances who had to be told what to do, and were lucky to be able to pay him money! He was very knowledgeable about boats and practical things, but bullied us constantly, often picking on the young mothers after the guys had left for work. So, in the words of an article written for our 50th anniversary, and featured in the history part of the RBOA website:

When the shadows were assembled and tongues loosened with beer, the ensuing discussion about ‘what to do?’, resulted in the formation of the RBOA, with the owner of the ‘secret rendezvous’ as chairman. The immediate result was that the chairman was told to leave, and the rest of us became very unwelcome, with the promise that our tenancy would not be renewed. A buddy and myself found a mooring on the river Loddon, Wargrave, and the other members of the newly-formed RBOA found new moorings wherever they could – mostly up and down the Thames, a couple on the Medway. Later on, I moved mooring to the Maidenhead Guards Club, which had been sold to a developer who wanted to get a mooring income whilst negotiating planning permission, so we enjoyed a wonderful mooring there for several years. Then we moved ashore, as the kids’ toys and friends were demanding lots more room! I stayed on the RBOA committee for many years, during which the much-feared landlord sold up and passed on. The Association went from strength to strength, as the members got to know their new reaches and the liveaboards who moored there, and we learned about the regulations which affected us – planning, etc. We lobbied MPs and councils, and got to understand how ‘democracy’ works!

Now!

Today, the island still holds the magic of D’Oyly Carte’s influence – the enchanting house, the intriguing paths, the mystical corners, the calming gentle flow of the river, the atmosphere of being away from the hubbub of life left behind as the bridge leads you away from hard reality.

And it is still the home of many souls who choose a more individual lifestyle, even more now that pontoons have been installed herringbone-style on the Shepperton side. The mixture of boats hasn’t changed much either – several large ones on the Weybridge side, including an impressive steel yacht that, it is said, Edith Piaff once owned – the ‘Flamant Rose’, her ‘love boat’, with narrowboats and others on the Shepperton side. It seems to me that the main difference between the ‘now’ and the ‘then’ is the degree of public accessibility which now prevails – musical soirees, weddings, and a café – ‘Doyley’s’, which looks out over the confluence of the Desborough Cut and the Waterboard Island loop. When I moored there in the 60s, the emphasis was on privacy, with restriction of entry to the island for residents only. Now, it seems, the public is invited on many occasions to come, and there are notices everywhere to separate the public from the moorings, with associated gates, giving a controlled and less cohesive atmosphere.

Between Now and Then!

In between ‘then’ and ‘now’, there have been a succession of owners, with different management policies for the island. Not many years ago, all boats were banished and it looked derelict – empty banksides, house in disrepair. Then it became liveaboard once more, with a small boatyard on the downstream end.

The current owners reputedly bought the island on a whim, having spotted it whilst kayaking past one sunny day, found the owners and made an acceptable offer, just like that! Their close association with a major building company must have influenced that decision. So, the island continues to provide moorings to those who live afloat. In today’s society, where every square metre of land (and water!) is evermore sought after, that is very welcome – let’s hope it stays that way!