Matthew Parris being a bit of a knob

[Adrian]

in public again

[Chris S]

"Frankly swimming in the Thames is not only ignorant it is selfish too," said David Snelson, Port of London Authority chief harbour master.

Although on this occasion, failing to drown was probably the more selfish thing to do.

[mattc]

Bunch of killjoys!

I read the column on Saturday and really enjoyed it - a tale of derring-do by an ordinary bloke.

(he's still not in my good books though, not by a long way ... )

[Charlotte]

Darwin?

[jogler]

ref. the thread title....
nowt new is it

[Julian]

Has anybody suggested stringing wire across the Thames to stop him doing it?

[Charlotte]

[Hilldodger]

Wish I'd been there to my foot on his head.

I'm sorry, did I just say that out loud?

[Mr Larrington]

They've already stopped some other nutter from swimming in that part of the Thames.  He's attempting to go from the source of the Thames to the summit of Everest entirely under his own power, but had to get out and run a half-marathon round the dodgy bits.

[andygates]

They've no sense of fun.

Mind you, I've lost count of the number of times I've been present at a tide-table balls-up.  Best of all was at the Corryvreckan.  Whirlpool.  Of DEATH.

[Wowbagger]

Has anybody suggested stringing wire across the Thames to stop him doing it?

That was my immediate thought.

[Manotea]

Its a funny thing, but the needle of my Grinkometer barely flickered on the AAGill 'witticism' about the "Dyke on a Bike", that comment being rather lost in the general, ah, robustness of the piece.

On the other hand the needle slammed straight across the dial when I read Parris's latest effort. He must have been out of mind writing a piece de-facto encouraging idiots to swim across the Thames at night. What next, train tunnel running? Using electrical pylon cables as death slides? The mind boggles.

[Wowbagger]

Its a funny thing, but the needle of my Grinkometer barely flickered on the AAGill 'witticism' about the "Dyke on a Bike", that comment being rather lost in the general, ah, robustness of the piece.

On the other hand the needle slammed straight across the dial when I read Parris's latest effort. He must have been out of mind writing a piece de-facto encouraging idiots to swim across the Thames at night. What next, train tunnel running? Using electrical pylon cables as death slides? The mind boggles.

You've forgotten the Sky-sponsored M25 Chicken Championships.

[dkahn400]

Bunch of killjoys!

I read the column on Saturday and really enjoyed it - a tale of derring-do by an ordinary bloke.

(he's still not in my good books though, not by a long way ... )

Of course for those of us who mostly read newspapers in the sensible manner, his column is now behind a pay wall. Oh well, never mind.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

They've no sense of fun.

Mind you, I've lost count of the number of times I've been present at a tide-table balls-up.  Best of all was at the Corryvreckan.  Whirlpool.  Of DEATH.

I've been through that, twice.  Get the tides right and it's a pussy cat.  In fact we spent the night half-way through as there is a small very sheltered anchorage.  We went ashore and sat high above the swirling waters and listened to the seals howling.  It was quite spooky.

[hellymedic]

Darwin?

Does Darwinism apply to gay 60-year-olds?

[Bledlow]

You talking genes or memes?

[andygates]

Common-sense doesn't apply to memes if their other properties are strong enough.  Vide Raoul Moat memorial tattoos.

[simonp]

They've no sense of fun.

Mind you, I've lost count of the number of times I've been present at a tide-table balls-up.  Best of all was at the Corryvreckan.  Whirlpool.  Of DEATH.

Heh.  We cocked up in the Dorus Mor tidal race not through arithmetic, but through over-sleeping.  It was like being a cork in a bath due to wind against tide.  At least we didn't lose power and get carried on into the Corryvwreckan.

[andygates]

Yeep!

We just couldn't make any headway - the upwelling craziness killed our steering (woo! spinny!) and after a few minutes of "hey, this is wrong..." we decided to turn tail, moor up and have another gin while considering options.

[Regulator]

I can't believe I'm doing this - but I feel that I have to defend Mr Parris.

OK - he's a knob, but frankly the idea that you shouldn't be able to swim in the Thames (or across the Thames) is daft.  The PLA spokesperson is being a bit of a spoilsport knob.

Frankly, we should be reclaiming our rivers and streams just as we are reclaiming our roads.

[mattc]

Holy cr@p - I'm defending Parris, AND agreeing with Greg!

I need a lie-down ...

[meddyg]

My daughter's college friends did the Danumbe in Buda-pest on a summer's night. They forgot about the tidal effect and ended up a  mile further downstream in Pest. You're not sipposed to do this in the Hungarian capital either. Running back to the hotel in wet underwear was the second part of the challenge.

But hey - that's Brits abroad - and great f you survive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCV25g6K1P4

[Manotea]

Frankly, we should be reclaiming our rivers and streams just as we are reclaiming our roads.

What Parris did was the equivalent of a night time ride along an unlit section of the M25 dressed entirely in black with no lights on his bike, said motorway including numerous unmarked roadworks and hefty pieces of debris.

[Manotea]

My daughter's college friends did the Danumbe in Buda-pest on a summer's night. They forgot about the tidal effect and ended up a  mile further downstream in Pest. You're not sipposed to do this in the Hungarian capital either. Running back to the hotel in wet underwear was the second part of the challenge.

But hey - that's Brits abroad - and great f you survive

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/fCV25g6K1P4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/fCV25g6K1P4&rel=1</a>

I've seen folk 'Tubing' (riding car tyres) in the Rhine through Basel, which looked great fun in a rather iffy sort of way. My local friend dismissed them as nutters and muttered scornfully about eddy's from the bridge supports, barges and Weil's Disease.