A short walk from Hampton Court Bridge is Molesey Boat Club.
This is a lively place. I watched a group of school-age boys and girls competently lift a boat out of the water, and place it carefully on its stand. They then washed it with sponges. Boats were coming and going all the time, fours, twos and single skulls, people of all ages. It all looked fun and made me want to have a go. A group of fit-looking young people set off, their instructor following in a motor boat. In a few moments they were rowing back the other way. Then they turned the boat and went back up the river at fantastic speed. Within half an hour then were back at the boat house, clambering out of the boat, and handing over to another group.
I did not follow the activities of the boat crews in great detail, however, as I was concentrating on those very complicated eaves and the carved woodwork of the boathouse.
The club was founded in 1866. This boathouse dates from 1901. It has been renovated and extended since, most recently in 2016, when a new rowing centre with a rowing tank was added.1
There is a café on the first floor, overlooking the river. It is called “Eight on the River“. The thing to watch is that it closes at 3pm on weekdays, so don’t hang around perfecting your drawing, but get up there.
Here is my shady sketching location seen from the balcony of the café. In the foreground are the seat-like stands where the crews place their boats after use.
It’s a lovely place to sketch, and to watch the river.
- History of the boat club from https://moleseyboatclub.co.uk/history
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Jane Sketching 