Our Thanks go to Vic & Joyce Lundberg for gathering this updated short history of the Weybridge Mariners

On the 8^th October 1960 Len Outtrim was working on his boat ‘MAGLENDA’ in Weybridge Marine boatyard.  At the time Len was wearing a Gieves yachting cap, complete with white duck cover.  Terry Tappin came along and commented “wish I had a cap like that”. Len, who at the time was a member of Wey Cruising Club, replied lightheartedly “well, why don’t you join a Club then you could get one of your own”.  Terry’s response was “why don’t we start one here”.

This remark was heard by Ernie Kemp on board ‘MEBA’ who said “that’s a good idea, let’s approach other boat owners in the yard” and, like Topsy, the idea grew during the rest of the day. 

On the following Sunday morning, the 9^th October, an inaugural meeting took place in the cockpit of Ken Davies’ boat ‘NOKOMIS’.  The name Weybridge Mariners was born by simply adding “rs” to Weybridge Marine, a bright idea by Charles Gautier who also thought up the design for the Club Burgee as it still is today, two cross marlin spikes with W.M.C. interspersed and surmounted by a three bladed marine propeller.

OUR FIRST HOME.

The offer from Skip Tappin that we use part of Wey Wheat  Barge called Greywell, if we would be prepared to help with the conversion to make it habitable.  This was done by putting a lantern roof over the main hold and some bulkheads in to divide it into two.  The stern half of the barge was to be used by the club and was fitted with some seats from bus conversions.  A small galley and toilets were also installed (bucket and chuck it).  A bar in the shape of a dinghy on end was fitted and the original crew quarters right became the beer store.  For this we paid a nominal sum of £2 per year.

We had some wonderful happy evenings and interesting discussions on boat handling, navigation and items of boating interest.

                                         Moving On........

 As the membership grew, we were able to purchase the whole barge.  Sadly, the barge was taking up too much room in the yard, but fortunately Harmsworth Wharf  became available at the entrance to the Wey Navigation for the club to rent it from the Thames Conservancy as it was known then.  Later, the Wey navigation was taken over by the National Trust who claimed we were on their water and also charged us rent.  It meant that the club had two landlords.

Our only access was by water, so the club purchased a ten foot open dory propelled by a water jet engine.  Because of the heavily tree lined banks it was always getting blocked with leaves despite filters.  A special rake had to be made to remove the leaves, this was alright in the summer, but as one had to put an arm into the water to do the cleaning, not so good in the winter. We modified the stern and fitted an outboard engine, this served us quite well.

A Setback....almost a disaster

In 1971/72, our bar license came up for renewal, resulting in an inspection by the local Health Officer.  He didn't like our Elsan toilets or the fact that we didn't have any mains water.  The lighting relied on a small Honda generator, loaned by one of the members.  The Health Inspector gave us a year to do something about this situation.  We began to think it was curtains for the club as we had tried unsuccessfully to get a mains water supply for several years.

 Saved by The Lord  (A Miracle)

Then out of the blue came what seemed a miracle, A group of Thames Conservators, headed by Lord Nugent of Guildford, visiting Shepperton Lock on an annual inspection of Thames Conservancy properties, they came round the Dock and Slipway (this is the official title of the Clubhouse site as we know it today) The large wooden building over the slipway (this is now our Clubhouse and Headquarters) was in a somewhat dilapidated condition, Lord Nugent enquired as to what it was and who the owners were, commenting that it looked very dangerous and should be demolished, he was somewhat taken aback to find that the Thames Conservancy were the owners.

Accompanying Lord Nugent in the inspecting party was "Nobby" Pearce, who as well as being a Conservator was Chairman of the Association of Thames Yacht Clubs (ATYC). He said that he knew of a boat Club who might be interested in turning it into a useable Clubhouse and Headquarters for them.

It transpired that he was unable to contact the people he had in mind, but in the mean time Ron Sargent, Commodore of W.M.C. along with Len Outtrim the Clubs ATYC representative had approached "Nobby"  about the building at Shepperton. The outcome of this discussion was that the T.C. would offer us a one year lease providing that the building was made safe and habitable at the end of the one year lease. One of our members at the time was a civil engineer and drew up a set of plans along with a schedule of materials required these were submitted to the T,C. who approved them. As a result arrangements for the forthcoming work were put in hand.

The Building Project gets the Green Light

1972 was a grand summer and one to remember, Peter Clark,a master Carpenter with a London company along with Don Crease ,a Surrey C,C, Highways Surveyor set about organising the work, the first job was to make the building waterproof, this entailed stripping in sections the tiles from the roof and at the same time replacing any rotten and suspect timbers and treating all woodwork to the roof against dry rot and woodworm, the tiles were originally held in place with wooden pegs, these were replaced by galvanised nails

While the work to the roof was progressing work was under way down in the slipway area Don Khaan, Vic Dillon, Derek Bale, and John "the blacksmith" Sherwood, along with other willing hands manufactured  the steelwork which was to support the floor and tie the vertical timbers which supported the roof trusses, all the fabrication required prior to erection was carried out in Don's works. On completion of fabrication the steelwork was delivered to Terry Tappin's yard and transported to Harmsworth wharf by Terry's crane barge. Some of the Ladies then set about it with wire brushes prior to coating it with red oxide paint, when dry Terry then with his barge moved them to the slipway ready for erection, prior to  the next major operation, installation of the floor.

Such was the enthusiasm that members living local would turn up straight from work and get stuck in on whatever job was in hand ,work would only stop when it was to dark to carry on. Weekends were given to getting as much done in two full days as was possible, all his time the weather was kind to us

When the erection of the steelwork was complete the job of laying the supporting timbers for the floor got under way under the watchful eye of Peter Clark

We heard of a dancehall in Woking was being demolished and we managed to get our hands on a lot of the sapele from the dance floor, this was delivered to Weybridge and was transported across by the Club dory. The Ladies the set about denailing it, tough work and fraught with splinters, which if not dealt with straight away were liable to fester, heavy drain on our first aid box (not much call injuries compensation under Health and Safety in those days). When the lads came to lay the flooring it was found to be of a very uneven thickness and was taken back across by the dory in order that Terry could put it through his thickness planer, a messy job that created a mountain of shavings which we found easier to clear up as we went along. Once again the Ladies came to our rescue.

When we first saw the dance floor we calculated it would be sufficient for our dance floor area but unfortunately much of it was damaged and we were only able to cover about one third of the area.  Don Creese contacted a Timber Yard in Essex who were able to supply at a reasonable cost, a wood called onkers beech.  This came in strips with the top surface finished for immediate use.  Peter Clark then took on the task of laying the flooring.  It was layed in sections of between five or six boards and between each section he placed 1/8th inch  thick washers.  When he got half way across he removed the washers and the floor board sections swelled to close the gaps without buckling or ridging.  By the time he had finished we had a grand dance floor.

Through various members we were able to obtain a lot of materials which were going to be dumped.  Panels with a bird's eye maple finish were fitted around the bar area and some were utilised as partitions and doors in the toilets.  A hundred foot length of red leather upholstered banquet seating, together with twelve tiled top tables, a stainless steel sink and three Bain Marie hot cupboards were obtained for one hundred pounds from a restaurant that was being re-furbished.

The frontage to the river was extended and fitted with metal framed windows and doors purchased from a scrap yard and we got a firm of glaziers to fit the glass on the basis that they would be better than us. (If they broke any glass they would have to replace it).  Don Khaan and his gang built a fine steel balcony at the front and fitted it with decorative safety rails.  Two iron staircases were installed as fire exits from the main building.

After finishing the main floor, Peter Clark with the help of a few others, built the galley, bar and the entrance hall and staircase from materials which had been salvaged from some houses that were being demolished. They also fitted out the toilet cubicles once the soil drainpipes and wash basins had been fitted.

At the back of the building Philip Harvey, his family and others dug out a ten foot by ten foot by ten foot deep hole so that a septic tank and french drainage tank could be constructed in concrete with four inch plastic piping for drainage. The system coped fairly well when forty or fifty people used the clubhouse, but on special nights when attendance was nearer to one hundred to one hundred and fifty it would tend to overflow.  Once people started to make their way home it would recede and return to normal the following day......PHEW!!

Kevin O'Brien overhauled the side windows in the clubhouse replacing glass and frameworks as necessary.  Ron Nunn installed all the electrics for lighting etc. (this has since been overhauled and rewired as necessary by Charlie Sparry). Len and Maggie manned the concrete mixer with the help of several volunteers built the beer cellar amongst other things including the concrete for the septic tank.  All the ballast used came from the river bed using Terry Tappin's crane barge and was transported on to the site.

All the wrought iron work for the bar and light fittings were made by Don Khaan, Vic Dillon and John The Blacksmith this wrought ironwork has been a source of envy by other clubs when visiting us.  Hazel James along with some other ladies made curtains for the windows.  Cooking stoves were installed in the galley and the bar was stocked ready for opening day.

During July/August 1973 the Conservators visited the site to make an inspection of work in progress.  They could not believe that a bunch of amateurs, led by only a few professionals could transform such an old building into such an attractive venue.  There was no hesitation in granting a thirty year lease.  Nobby Pearce donated thirty gallons of white paint and we were able to paint the outside of the building.

On the 27th October 1973 Nobby Pearce officially declared the Clubhouse open. He gave the Club his blessing as did other Club Commodores and Flag Officers who had been invited along for the opening ceremony, after which a dance took place until late.

To raise money for the building we ran raffles,  tombolas and sold £5.00 interest free bonds to members, with a maximum holding of £200.00 along with a promises to repay the bond in five years, this raised about £2,500.00 and we cleared this debt within three years. Many of the members who invested small sums donated their money to the Club

The original ceiling followed the contour of the roof this resulted in a considerable loss of heating during the winter months, this problem was remedied by Vic Lundberg who assisted by his wife Joyce installed the ceilings existing today, this resulted in a marked reduction in the cost of heating the Club. Also at this time Len Baker made the shields and staffs for mounting the various flags and pennants that we had been given during social visits from and to other Clubs.

In 1974 we hosted the Association of Thames Yacht Clubs Annual Rally with over 200 boats in attendance all moored along the wall opposite the Club. With this number of boats attending it meant that in excess of 400 persons would be around, In order to ease a possible problem we erected a marquee on the green in front of what is now Canoe Club premises, in the marquee  we installed a bar and in the evening music. the activities in the marquee were run in parallel with activities in the Clubhouse. All over the weekend our Ladies provided food along with non stop tea and coffee.           

As membership grew so did the activities we got involved in, such as a yearly water carnival, Christmas parties for the children and grandchildren of Members, Father Christmas was always in attendance and arrived at the Club by Thames Police boat with all lights flashing. The officers from the police station next door (where the E.A. are now installed) provided the boat and crew. For a number of years we took part in the R.N.L.I. Annual rally which, until the fire,  was held at the Lensbury Club.  After a fire it moved to Queens Promenade Kingston, during this period we regularly entered for the Whittaker cup and were successful on numerous occasions. In 1997 at a suggestion from Jan Walker, she had got involved with the Charity involved in bringing children over from Chenobyl, we laid on a full days entertainment for the children including a river trip food and entertainment and on leaving were given a backpack with various presents in. This event went on for three years.

We have within the Club a close connection with the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships and through this connection we got to hear that the annual river trip that the Dunkirk Veterans took every year was to cease due to increasing cost. As a result it was suggested that if the Dunkirk Little Ships based on the Thames provided the river trip we would entertain them to lunch, this was a successfully enjoyed by all involved, as a result this has become a regular event in our programme and we have an undertaking that we will continue this event until the last Dunkirk survivor is fit enough to make the trip and wants to do so.

Today

The Club has a very full social calendar with many events both during the winter and summer seasons. Whether its a formal Fitting Out supper or a good old fashioned Games night the Club and its members always make you feel welcome. See our Events page for this year's calendar.

Through the years 'The Mariners' joined the Association of Thames Yacht Clubs (ATYC), the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) and the RNLI. They have exerted their influence in all manner of things boating and are members of various working groups, such as the Parliamentary Waterways Group (PWG), River Users Group 8 (RUG8). 

The Mariners boats travel up and down the River Thames and visit France, Belgium, Holland & canals and the South and East Coasts of England.

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