The Vintage Boat Festival in St Katherine's Dock

St. Kat's is usually a great idea any time of the week, but when there's an event, you can expect it to be busy. Cinderella isn't a fan of crowds, but I decided to go anyway. St. Kat's always has something on, and it pays to look at their website to find out what's on. For more information on events, check out https://www.skdocks.co.uk

I read about the Classic Boat Festival a few days ago and decided to pop along. I don't live far from Tower Hill, plus it's my old student stomping ground. I jumped onto the train to Liverpool Street Station and then walked down to Tower Hill.

History Is Ever Present

I love this walk down to Tower Hill because it is steeped in centuries' worth of history—every nook and cranny in the City of London. I went early in the morning, but some eager beavers were already out and about. It's nice to see people in the Square Mile over the weekends. I remember when I was a student, the place was relatively quiet.

Instead of walking along Minories, I walked along Jewry Street. It is quieter, but you will also see part of the London Wall here. I've written a blog on this, and you can read it here: https://tabbylondon.com/blog/f/unearthing-history-the-roman-wall-find-at-35-vine-street

Traffic Free To St Kat's Dock

I avoided the crowds by going through the underground passage towards St Kat's Dock. It's like a different world. That's what I love about London. One can be transported to another world literally within minutes. So far, so good. Minimal crowds. Most people stay above Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

https://tabbylondon.com/blog/f/a-vibrant-oasis---st-katherines-dock

I saw more yachts than usual at St Kat's Dock. Maybe more people were in town for the festival, but the yachts were huge. I could sense the build-up to the Boat Festival, too. I know St Kat's well, so I headed towards the main area (central and West basin), where the yachts and boats come in via the Thames.

Before I got to the Central Basin, I saw the Gloriana, gifted to Queen Elizabeth II for her jubilee, moved to the public platoon area. It's usually moored in the Central Basin. She's worth having a closer look because she's beautiful. As I got closer to the Central Basin, I was greeted with a beautiful sight of 50 old classic boats.

Boats Galore

50 beautiful vintage and beautifully preserved vessels included war ships such as the Dunkirk Little Ships, motorboats from the Bates Stargate range and other impressive working vessels, including historic tugs and a Navy P2000 vessel.

What a beautiful sight it was, too. I made it just in time for the start of the festival. Every boat was instructed to salute their horns at 11 am. They will also salute simultaneously at 5 pm when the event ends. It's on Sunday the 8th as well, in case you fancy popping down.

There were many impressive vessels, including the recently restored 77 ft Little Ship Llantony, the historic sailing vessels Sir Alec Rose's famous sailing yacht 'Lively Lady', the 'Nancy Blackett', the favourite yacht of 'Swallows and Amazon's author Arthur Ransome and Dervin racing yacht 'Croix des Gardes', plus the fully-refurbished Thames sailing barge 'Gladys' which will be on display in the lock.

What's On

The public can go to the platoon-level boats and chat with the owners. I didn't wait around to do this as I had another errand to run – going to the supermarket. Not bad for a Saturday morning in the Big Smoke.

The event is on until 4 pm on the 8th of September. There are plenty of eateries and activities for both adults and kids too.

Thank you for your attention.

Best wishes

Tabby