Written by Matt Atree

A couple of years ago Thamesweirproject was shut down and with it went a huge resource to Thames Valley paddling and the community spirit that such a site engendered in the paddlers that used it. Last weekend TVFreestylers celebrated the rebirth of that community with a debauched evening of fun and frolics on the island at Hurley. The king was dead- Long live the King!

When Thamesweirproject closed down no one was really willing to take on the onerous task of trying to keep one of the most active and fanatical paddling communities in the country going. Jacko grudgingly took on the levels pages and kept them stuttering along, but the forums and the community that was bonded through the site began to fall apart- a dark time for paddling in the valley.

I then met Gareth Harvey at Hurley about 14 months ago. We got talking in between rides and he enthusiastically relayed his plans to bring a site dedicated to the Thames Weirs back to life. He was full of ideas and was dragging as many people on board as he possibly could. How could we say no? His enthusiasm for paddling, for the site and for the community it was going to support was infectious and to this day has not diminished.

Since that first “board meeting” so much has happened it has been difficult to keep up. We now have a thriving forum that covers a wide range of topics. Gareth and Shaggy regularly contact and visit the Lock Keepers to keep them informed of events (the TVF users all chipped in to buy all the Lockies working the weirs that we use a bottle of wine for Christmas), a texted level service that is incredibly accurate, a regular European Tour in the Summers and other trips through the year, informal coaching and competition sessions and a million and one other things that I haven’t given him credit for.

He does all this in his spare time using the good will of his friends and those in the paddling community, who in turn give their support for free (the web designer now lives in the US but still works on the site for Gareth due to his charm offensive). This simply means that we now have a community of paddlers like we have never had before, which translates to some great paddling sessions in a friendly atmosphere. A community, in my opinion, unrivalled in paddling in this country.

Not that Gareth has done enough he wants to do more. He is now in the process of forming another site for general paddling in the valley, including all disciplines and the clubs to contact that are relevant to each discipline. This along with TVF will hopefully provide us with more people who want to take part in this wonderful sport of ours and give them the means to access it.

In the words of Gareth- “Paddling is all about getting out on the water and having fun with your mates.” A sentiment shared between those who paddle in the valley and helped greatly by the effort and work put in by Gareth and his team. This is just my long winded way of saying thanks to them all!