Our Sponsors

This website has been created by Jeff Burroughs. All the time spent creating it and laying out the pages has been given for free. Most of the software used is free. However there are costs associated with having a website such as domain name registration, hosting fees and domain space and functionality on the host servers.

All the sponsors are mentioned by name on the front page and have a space within this page to tell us a little bit more about themselves or their company together with a link out to their own web pages if required. If you are interested in being a sponsor in future years or would like to help in any way with this site please email me.

My interest in ships, shipping and the water generally, started when I was a boy and London was a port. When ships would anchor off Southend waiting their turn to enter one of the greatest ports in the world, I could be seen most mornings before school cycling down to the seashore at Shoeburyness with my telescope to log the names of the anchored ships. Many a happy Saturday was spent on the jetty at Tilbury Riverside watching as the ships passed in and out as the tide dictated.

After school, a few years in the Merchant Navy had me living and working on even more ships - what better than a hobby and pleasure for which I was getting paid?! As the British Merchant fleet was being run down I found employment elsewhere but for the last 20 years or more, continued the maritime theme by owning and sometimes hiring narrowboats.

My involvement with The River Stour Trust is for pure pleasure. Meeting people, messing about on water (dredging etc) and operating boats is why I joined. I hope this website encourages other like-minded people to give some of their time to ensure the River Stour continues to be used as a navigation and by so doing, it brings pleasure to an even greater number people

My first initiation with the River Stour was during the eighties, when I joined the River Stour Trust and was enlisted by other enthusiastic members to help crew the original "Stour Trusty" on the Dedham to Flatford reach of the Stour. Since then I have become involved with many of the activities that the RST undertake. Currently, I serve on the RST council and various committees and have specific responsibilities for Venues, health, safety and staff management.

My business has helped enhanced some important links with the the RST, and the associations that I have within the marine industry keeps me in close touch with new developments, particularly regarding marine safety and training.

For more details of Blackwater boats please take a look at my website www.blackwaterboats.freeserve.co.uk

Ron Abbott

Greens Clothing based in Gaol Lane Sudbury supply all types of corporate clothing for clubs, schools and societies. Uniforms supplied for all scouting and guide groups. Please call in or give us a call on 01787 881500.

Hi, I’m Linda Palmer, the Sea Scout Leader’s mum. The River Stour and Sea Scouts has always played a big part in our lives, so I’m delighted to help support the web site.

Robert’s dad had always been a keen fisherman. When the shortage of work in Yorkshire, 29 years ago, caused us to relocate my husband decide the delightful market town of Sudbury was the place to move his family too because it had good fishing.

Our social time was always spent down by the river. The Water Bailiff got to know the Palmer family very well. He often said we were like the tribe of Israel walking across the meadows. Me, with the pushchair with my daughter Diane in and a bag of toys dangling from it’s handles, my husband with all the fishing gear and chairs, Robert and big brother David carrying either the cool box with our picnic in or the playpen and our Labrador puppy Logan in tow. The boys and their Dad fished whilst I played with and amused our daughter or walked the dog. I suppose Diane & I could have stayed at home but that wasn’t as much fun as being down by the river. I became the official family photographer to record all their fishing catches. Robert’s first boat was an inflatable blue dinghy that he sailed frequently until he lost a paddle – another reason for him to join Sea Scouts as boats are provided.

Robert joined Scouts and eventually Sea Scouts. When he was invested as a Sea Scout my Dad an X Royal Navy sailor took great pride in buying his grandson his first uniform and hat. Robert has always loved the water, like his father, and has always been passionate about Sea Scouts. I remember the early days, when as parents we did all we could to help raise funds to build the new Scout Headquarters and do things to support the group be it cooking on my part or providing wood for Bonfire night celebrations from Dad. I’ve seen my son grow up to manhood with numerous life and water skills gained through Sea Scouts. He now works as Sea Scout Leader for the group he grew up with, giving freely of his own time to ensure that the youngsters of today and tomorrow will be able to grow in strength, confidence and good character with the many life skills and disciplines the group participate in. Long may the work of 3^rd Sudbury Sea Scouts and the River Stour Trust continue to work in harmony for the benefit of the people of Sudbury, Great Cornard and surrounding area.

This is my "day job". I have been running Electromobile since 1991 first as a one man band Vehicle Electrician initially specialising in communications and vehicle security systems. However business changes and now Electromobile is a limited company owned jointly with my business partner Graham Moore. We have 6 full time engineers, including Graham and I together with a team of part time administration staff. The business is based in a small village called Lt Whelnetham near Bury St Edmunds where we have purchased an old building and some land which we hope to renovate and turn into our new headquarters to include office space and workshops. We offer engineering time to other companies who supply vehicle tracking solutions and install and maintain the systems on their behalf. We send engineers all over the country. This includes flying engineers to Scotland, Northern and Southern Ireland when required.

Situated at Trimley St Martin near Felixstowe and on the net at www.seamarknunn.com. Seamark Nunn stock a huge range of chandlery and offer a very helpful and knowledgable service. The staff are all involved with boats in some way or another and have a passion for what they do. Seamark Nunn supplied the Suzuki engines now in use on both the Scout safety boat Johnny Rescue and the River Stour Trust trip boat Francis J (on loan from Francis Batten). The showroom is worth a look and was recently extended and now includes an extensive range of clothing as well as engines, rope, fixings, books and all sorts of chandlery bits and pieces. Please remember to quote this website, the Sea Scouts at Sudbury or the River Stour Trust when shopping at Seamark Nunn.

I grew up in Great Cornard, my first exposure to the Stour was apparently being taken for a walk on it in my pram during the big freeze of 1962. My first memory however was aged about 13 trying to navigate the river using a mirror dinghy it was very heavy and the portages not good. After that I left the Stour alone for thirty years apart from walks on the meadows, until I brought an old kayak off the infamous ‘eBay’ and took part in the River Stour Trusts length of the river cruise (S2C) three years ago. That prompted me to join the RST, now I’m a director of the trust, I chair the navigation committee and organise S2C with a great team. I think everybody in this area should travel the Stour at least once it is a truly beautiful river. I’m helping on the work parties restoring the lock at Stratford St Mary, I kayak on the Stour twice a week in the summer, and am doing my best to make this river easily accessible to all!

Big thumbs up to Jeff for working so hard on this website. I can be contacted via email s2c@supanet.com

My first close acquaintance with the Stour was in November 1973 when a friend and I sailed my 28ft catamaran round from Benfleet to her new mooring at Manningtree, over a very cold and foggy night. We'd moved house a week or so earlier and had joined the Stour Sailng Club at Manningtree. That was to be our base for ten years of family cruising between the Swale and the Deben using the Catamaran, succeeded by a kestral 22ft clinker centreboarder and then a grp Leisure 23 Bilgekeeler. The 3 children had all been introduced to coastal cruising from about 6 months old.

By 1980 my son was itching to get into a kayak, so we joined Ipswich Canoe Club and were introduced to the freshwater Stour, of which we had seen very little. I became a BCU (British Canoe Union) instructor and did a lot of teaching with the canoe club and also with Samford Valley Scouts, whom my son had joined. I was roped in more and more and became Suffolk Scouts county canoe advisor for 1983 and 84. We made lots of use of the river between Sudbury and Cattawade for trips, some of them also involving Ipswich Waterways Club (members with learning difficulties). My son was soon attracted to whitewater and competitions, so once again I was roped into several years of training with him-flat water work on the Stour and all over the country for whitewater and surf; he made the national junior WWR squad after a lot of hard work.

We joined the River Stour Trust at the end of the eighties; I organised the small boat rallies in 1993 and 94 and I am currently the treasurer.

I have always had a love for the river Stour. I was brought up living in Great Cornard and spent most of my childhood days on or near the river. I joined the Sea Scouts in Sudbury when the old hut was at the bottom of Quay Lane. I enjoyed canoeing most of all and trained through to a 3 star qualification and a proficiency certificate. I was fortunate enough to work as a canoeing instructor for a while in Devon when I left school and also went on to work as a part time youth worker with special skills teaching rock climbing at a basic level to youth club members in Kent. I took the plunge and set up my own business Electromobile in 1991 and have been self employed ever since apart from an 18 month "time out" when I carried on running the company under new ownership before buying it back and establishing it as a limited company with my close friend and business partner Graham Moore. I now help the Sea Scouts in Sudbury as a part time helper. Together with Tracy my partner we own a rib called TC, details of our adventures can be found on these pages, Rib-TC. I started this project www.riverstour.com on the 18th of September 2006 as a way of offering website publicity to voluntary organisations with the overheads paid for by advertisers. I have asked for the help of sponsors during the set up stages.

I can be contacted on my mobile 07973 220455 or by email on jeff@riverstour.com