The Drapers’ shallop on the River Erdre
You know what it’s like; you never see photos of yourself on holiday until someone else sends them to you. Here I am, rowing in the bow of the Drapers’ shallop. By some miracle we seem to be together, in that our blades are barely visible.
The most challenging task for me is raising my oar in salute, as we did here for our landlady:
The long oars are heavy. The only way I can raise mine is by putting one end under my foot.
My fellow rowing club member who took these shots from the water explained that his camera unexpectedly went into an ‘Impressive Art’ setting. Although this looks like a painting, it was for real, taken out on the water from a sandolo.
As you can imagine, the whole trip took quite a bit of organising, but it was worth it. This shot was also taken on art mode.
While some of us worked really rather hard on our holiday, others enjoyed the river from a different perspective.
Next week, on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th September, The Draper’s Shallop will be taking part in Countryside Live at Lee Valley in the London Borough of Hackney, when children from the inner city of London will get a chance to pull an oar and experience what it feels like to travel on the river as Queen Mary once did. I’m volunteering on the Thursday.
On Saturday 27th September, she will be competing in London’s river marathon along with 300 other crews. The course of the The Great River Race starts at London Docklands, with vessels rowing up the River Thames under all the great bridges of the capital to Ham House in Richmond, passing under Kew Bridge at about 3.00pm. Let me know if you spot her!
~ photos by Robin Privett
Sophie Neville 
This looks like a fabulous trip. The Drapers’ shallop is beautiful, really elegant. I would have loved to have been a part of this.
It was amazing and the French were truly hospitable.