Stour Lighter

The River Stour Trust is looking for volunteers to join its team of skippers and crew operating its fleet of electric launches on the River Stour in Suffolk, made famous in John Constable’s paintings.

The launches are operated by a dedicated volunteers offering river trips at Sudbury, Dedham and Flatford. They carry thousands of people every year, from Easter until the end of October, helping the Trust raise vital funds to continue its work.

The Trust, celebrating its 50th anniversary, has completed a number of successful projects including restoring or rebuilding four of the 25-mile waterway’s 13 derelict locks and building a riverside Visitor Education Centre.

Annual events include the Sudbury to the Sea canoeing weekend which attracts over 500 entrants from all over the world.

The river is peaceful, with just swans and occasional rowing boats to negotiate, and you will find yourself drifting back 200 years to the days when it was a busy commercial waterway, with 50ft lighters towed in pairs by horses through 13 locks from the sea at Manningtree to Sudbury.

The 21ft launches are simplicity itself to drive, with smooth, quiet electric motors, and maximum speeds of 4mph. Anyone who can handle a sailing boat or motor boat will be able to drive one, but full training and familiarisation with the river will be provided. Or you can join the elite team operating the restored 19th Century River Stour Lighter. This is 50ft long, with two powerful electric drives, and it is a test of skill to manoeuvre this 160-year-old craft through locks, with only inches to spare.

The boats operate from Easter until the end of October on weekends and occasional weekdays, but you can volunteer for as many or as few days per year as you wish. Travelling along the river affords you the chance to see its many delights and parts of the local countryside that are inaccessible by foot or road.

They also need people to look after the shore side of the operations, taking bookings and money, so if you are not as active as you once were you can still be a part of this worthwhile operation, and get to meet the many visitors from who come from every nation of the world to visit Constable Country.

 

For more information, please contact: administrator@riverstourtrust.org / Tel: 01787 313199 / www.riverstourtrust.org

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