Walthamstow Lodge River Cruise

Walthamstow Lodge No 2472 this year arranged a river cruise in place of the traditional Ladies’ Night.

Walthamstow Lodge

At 12:30pm on the 18th October 2015, a number of landlubbers from Walthamstow lodge, together with their partners and friends, boarded the good ship Symphony at the Embankment Pier in London. We cast off for our river cruise at 1:00pm and went up and down the great Thames for two and a half hours, wondering at the sites. The older shipmates were amazed at the changes that had occurred since their youth while the younger ones took it in their stride. Some of the young’uns patiently explained the names of the gigantic glass buildings now dwarfing the poor old stone monuments of yesteryear.

Walthamstow Lodge occupied a private area at the pointy end of the boat and sat in comfort within a glass room which gave shelter from the wind and cold. It also enabled magnificent views during the river cruise without leaving our seats. A very nice lunch was served with a few drinks while listening to the live jazz band that played throughout the trip. There also seemed to be a few pineapples scattered around which is apparently a traditional Walthamstow thing although no one seemed to know why!

We had a raffle for charity (for an enormous bottle of dubious German Brandy), a birthday celebration (complete with a dangerous looking firework in a glass) and the President and his lovely lady made everyone very welcome indeed.

So, to sum up ….. the weather was perfect for a river jaunt with sun, mild winds and calm waters. The food was undeniably edible, the drinks most acceptable and, of course, the company absolutely marvellous.

Many thanks to Mike and Guy (and possibly others too) for organising the day.

A few photos to click on below