March 2016

East life
Photo courtesy of Keith Reynolds
Victoria Model Steam Boat Club as it was in 1937
Is East London a big part of your life?
As far back as I can remember. I’m a born and
bred East Londoner and was practically brought
up in Vicky Park. I went to the boating club as
a 10-year-old child with my mother, father and
sister. I was born with no ankle bones so was in
hospital for a long while. My mum and dad used
to take me in my wheelchair to the park every
Sunday and it was great. My dad would race boats
and my mum would knit with the other mums. All
the men would be in bowler hats on the boating
lake. Back then the Boating Hut was an adventure
playground. What was a chore soon became a
regular family day out and it’s stayed that way for
52 years. We stayed in the area to raise our son
and daughter and run a successful chain of shops,
one of which was based in Chrisp Street market,
which has changed a lot over the years. Now I
spend time taking the people I care for at Blue
Skies out to local cinemas, cafés and parks.
Does the area influence the group?
The area is all about families and that’s what the
club is about, too. We have lots of generations
spending time together. A lot of curious locals
stop by in the park on a Sunday to ask what we
are up to, especially on days where we run the
tethered hydroplanes. And of course we are tied
in with the history of Victoria Park and the lake
itself is famous, and listed. I’d always help out
anyone in the area should they want to build or
hire a boat for the lake.
Any other hobbies?
I travel the country throughout the year, going to
a lot of boat and engineering shows in Kingsbury
and Birmingham. The club visit a lot of shows such
as Sandown. I also fly both real planes and model
ones with the Two Tree Island club in Essex. I also
try and attend as many of the Victoria Park events
as possible – I thought Winterville was brilliant.
The club occasionally get asked to help out
productions with boating props, most memorably
on Run, Fatboy, Run with Simon Pegg in 2007.
Most memorable East London moment?
With the boat club, it would be reaching our
centenary year in 2004. We had a fantastic twoday
party at the boat house. But for me, it was
winning a club raffle prize of a pair of tickets to copilot
a plane. I gave my spare ticket to one of the
men with special needs I care for at the Blue Skies
Project, knowing he loved aeroplanes and had
always wanted to fly. As we flew over the Thames,
I felt very happy watching someone achieving a
long-term goal like that.
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