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| First Boat House at Lea Bridge |
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| The New Boat House and proprietor Vincent Radley early 1900s |
At its peak in the 20th century there were three sites the last of which was at Springhill opposite what is now Lea Rowing Club.
Boats were both
built and hired out and facilities were rented to rowing clubs. The business
was started by George Terence Radley and his wife Phoebe and the earliest
record of it is newspaper articles in 1844 which refer to Phoebe as a boat
proprietor, and as hiring out boats on the River Lea. The articles describe a
drowning inquest in which Phoebe was a witness. A 1855 wedding certificate
shows George as a boat builder but prior to 1855 documented records, the 1841
and 1851 censuses, and Vincent Radleys 1849 birth certificate show George as a
dyer so it is postulated that the business started as boat hire with boat
building coming later. However, the exact course of events is not known. The
business was initially known as Radleys Boat House. Georges’ son Vincent took
over after 1865 when George died and became known as V Radley and Sons from the
late 19th century until 1970.
In the
first half of the 20th century the Radleys were the principal boat
builders, owners and hirers on the River Lea at Clapton, east London. At its
peak from the early 1900s to 1932 there were three boathouses - the Old Boathouse
or Old Mill Boathouse (also known as Radleys Boat House) south of Lea Bridge,
the New Boathouse north of Lea Bridge adjacent to the Kings Head public house and the Bungalow at
Springhill.
Vincent’s
son Wallis George Radley ran the business after he died in 1923. It is possible
that Wallis’s elder brother also Vincent had been intended to take over the
business but he had died in 1915. Also Wallis served a waterman’s
apprenticeship rather than as a boat builder. Wallis George died in 1943 and
his son Ken took over but his management was short lived and his brother Sid
and took over the reins in 1949 with the help of his brother Wally. The
business ceased trading when Sid died in 1970 and the site was sold to the Lea
Valley regional park authority and is now Springfield Marina.
The
business was well known in rowing/boat building circles and Vincent, Wallis
George and Sid all had obituaries in the newspapers. A number of family members
were expert oarsman with Shirley Radley one of Sid’s daughters rowing in an
England eight in 1951 and her sister June missing out due to a back injury. The
family also put together rowing crews consisting of Radley family members pairs,
fours and eights pictures of which appeared in the national press. Laurie Radley
sculled in professional races in the inter war years, in those days people in
the boat building trade were barred from amateur events such as Henley.
There are still a number of Radley built boats in existence
one of which was displayed in June 2010 at the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic
Seaport Museum Connecticut USA. A picture of this boat, a clinker whiff, appeared
on the Hear the Boat Sing web site along with the following:
‘Steve Ferlauto also had a beautiful old single on display
by boat builder V Radley and sons. (see picture below) who built boats on the
river Lea in east London starting during the 19th century. It has probably been
restored on a couple of occasions, with a sliding seat, ‘new’ clogs, etc. – a
beautiful craftsman work, indeed.’ This boat was almost certainly built by Sid
Radley at some time after World War 2 in the 40s or 50s.
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| Radley Family Eight on Lea by Springhill Boat House |
