Soggy Saturday on Eel Pie Island

Rainy Saturday.  Pro - I get to wear my new raincoat.  Con - it's damn cold and my feet are wet (ok that's two cons).  Why didn't I wear my wellies?


First stop - lunch in Richmond.  We were able to sit outside thanks to a little terrace roof.

But after lunch we walked to Twickenham to go to Eel Pie Island.  We went there last summer and did a post about it but since it's a private island you can usually only walk down one little path before you are shut out.  This Saturday, however, was open studio day so all the artists' studios were open to the public.

The walk between the towns is beautiful.  But muddy.  And my laces dragged in the mud and then slapped up on to my leg.  I was basically a disaster from the knees down.  But don't you love my coat??

Photo op - old car with cool interior.

We're here!!

Unfortunately we didn't find any art to add to our own collection but it was fun to wander around all the little studios.
After a few hours in the rain I was ready for tea.  The Royal Yacht Club was open for visitors and putting on a cream tea for the public.  Yes, please!

As we were having our tea I looked up to see a familiar face on the wall above the stage.  

Phil Collins??  

And there is his gold album.  

 

Turns out Phil spent a lot of time on Eel Pie Island growing up and played his very first concert at the original Yacht Club (which burnt down and this is the new rebuild).  Home town boy makes good.

Actually a lot of bands played at the legendary Eel Pie Island Hotel in the 50's and 60's including David Bowie, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd.  The hotel burned down in the 70's so now it's mostly an artist colony and boating community. Hmmm..that sounds like an unusual number of fires for such a small island, doesn't it?
(We may have posted this history in our write up last summer but I'm too lazy to look and I figured you would all need a refresher.)

On the way back to the mainland we took a few shots of the funky houses along the path.  I think we photographed them before but they were still intriguing.

It rained so much the side walk was flooding as we crossed back.  We've actually had tremendous weather these past few weeks so I know I shouldn't complain about a little rain but I was very happy to get home and into a hot tub with a cup of tea to warm up. Sorry, no photos of that! ;-)