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Humans have paddled the Thames for thousands of years. The remains of a dugout canoe and a flint axe found at Erith, east of London, provide some of the early evidence of this activity. In the Victorian and Edwardian periods, the Canadian canoe design, with its high bow and stern, became popular as a lightweight touring boat. In the late 20th century, adventurous sportsmen and women found the Kayak to be ideal for playing in the surging waters of the Thames weirs.
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Camping canoe |
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Sailing canoe |
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Canoes can be recognised by the pointed bow and stern, and the use of paddles rather than poles and oars. Sails and outboard motors are sometimes used to power them, and hoops or ridge-poles can be used with canvas covers to enable them to be used for camping.
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The Royal Canoe club, based in Teddington, was founded in 1866. Charles Dickens junior, in his Dictionary of the Thames, 1889, listed the Commodore of that time as the Prince of Wales. The object of the club was to improve canoes, promote canoeing and unite canoeists, by arranging and recording canoe voyages. They held meetings "for business and bivouac, for paddling and sailing, and for racing and chasing in canoes over land and water."
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Introduction
Canoeing
