Raven's Ait is an ait

Ait

An ait is a small island. It is especially used to refer to islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England....

 (island) in the Thames at Surbiton

Surbiton

Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is situated next to the River Thames, with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand, spacious 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates...

, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London, England. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the three Royal Boroughs in England, the others are Kensington and Chelsea, also in London,...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, in the reach above Teddington Lock

Teddington Lock

Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames in England at Ham in the western suburbs of London. The lock is on the southern Surrey side of the river....

. It is situated upstream of Queen's Promenade where it departs from the river, and opposite Thames Sailing Club, home of the Thames A Class Raters

Thames A Class Rater (scow)

The Thames A Class Rater is both a historic and modern specialist sailing craft designed for the particular conditions at Thames Sailing Club, on the River Thames at Surbiton in England...

. Access is from Queen's Promenade, by ferry.

Level with the upstream accommodation block is an area on the Surrey bank that the locals used as a car park, but which is actually an old draw dock

Draw dock

A Draw Dock is usually a narrow inlet in a river bank, sometimes lined, sometimes not, into which boats of reasonable size may be drawn for repair....

.

History

Long owned or leased by The Navy League

The Marine Society & Sea Cadets

The Marine Society & Sea Cadets resulted from the merging of The Navy League and The Marine Society, the world's oldest seafarers' charity...

, then the charity responsible for the Sea Cadet Corps

Sea Cadet Corps (United Kingdom)

The Sea Cadet Corps is a UK national youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Navy and open to young people between the ages of 10-18 years old. The SCC is the UK's largest Naval Cadet Force with over 30,000 cadets and adult volunteers...

 and the Girls' Nautical Training Corps

Girls' Nautical Training Corps

In 1942, the Girls’ Naval Training Corps was formed as part of the National Association of Training Corps for Girls, with Units mainly in southern England...

, Raven's Ait was the home of TS Neptune, a major sailing, canoeing and boating training establishment until The Navy League invested instead in TS Royalist

TS Royalist

TS Royalist is a brig owned and operated as a sail training ship by the of the United Kingdom.-Description:Royalist is 83 GRT and her hull is long, with an overall length of . As well as her sails, she is equipped with two Perkins diesel engines of each...

 a small Brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

.
Until 1970 the buildings were the familiar wooden clad "Sea Cadet Blue", with very old style dormitories and a very naval discipline. In 1971 a major rebuilding operation started, with the entire accommodation except the superintendent's house rebuilt by Haymills Construction. That rebuilding replaced all the old wooden buildings with today's island buildings, which became a conference and wedding centre. During the rebuilding a small number of activities were carried on downstream of Kingston upon Thames

Kingston upon Thames

Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...

, at the Albany Park sailing base opposite The Royal Canoe Club

Royal Canoe Club

The Royal Canoe Club , founded in 1866, is the oldest canoe club in the world and received royal patronage in the 19th century. The clubhouse is based at Trowlock Island on the River Thames in Teddington near central London. The club promotes canoeing and kayaking, focusing on flatwater, sprint and...

, with instructors commuting daily by boat.

During the 1980s the Inner London Education Centre used these facilities as a youth and community workers training centre and a water sports activity facility.

The Ravens Ait Hall Management Company Ltd, went into administration and closed in December 2008.

In early 2009 the island and facilities were occupied by squatters who had the declared aim of turning it into an eco conference centre, and indeed held at least one major environmental conference during their stay. In March 2009 legal action was taken to evict the squatters. The squatters were evicted on 1 May 2009 with mixed views from the local community. According to local media reports during their stay they had used as much electric power as would supply 45 homes However this was disputed by squatters who said that this was because before they arrived large industrial refrigerators and other appliances had been left running by the owners. . The Council, who took the property back from the squatters, have been accused of failing to recycle the office equipment and furniture and instead dumping it in landfill

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

.

Activities as a Navy League watersports venue

Raven's Ait was accredited by the Royal Yachting Association

Royal Yachting Association

The Royal Yachting Association is the national governing body for certain watersports in the United Kingdom. Activities it covers include:* Sailing* Windsurfing* Motor cruising* Sportsboats* Personal watercraft* Powerboat racing...

 and by the British Canoe Union

British Canoe Union

The British Canoe Union is a national governing body for canoeing in the United Kingdom, whose stated purpose is "Helping and Inspiring people to go canoeing”....

 to conduct training in their respective disciplines. It also provided a semi-permanent mooring for Sparkle, a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose

Angus Primrose

Angus Primrose was a designer and naval architect whose best known designs for around the world races included the Gypsy Moth IV of Sir Francis Chichester and Galway Blazer II of Commander Bill King....

 to be sailed by persons of restricted physical ability and mobility.

Motor Boating Skills

The boats were almost all naval stock, and all diesel powered:

• a 25 foot naval cutter (Twin-cylinder diesel), centre pseudo-cabin housing engine
• several "Viking" open tenders (single-cylinder air-cooled diesel) with poor handling
• workboat with a cuddy, acquired from Haymills Construction after the rebuild, similar to the Vikings, but with better handling
• "Number 8", a small clinker-built smart, stubby, open launch, about 16-foot LOA with relatively low freeboard
  Freeboard (nautical)
  In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...
  
   (Single-cylinder Lister air-cooled diesel

Pulling (rowing)

Basic pulling skills were taught, usually to Sea Cadets, either in the ASC or in one of a pair of admiralty whalers (a clinker built pulling boat of approximately 28' LOA, slim beam, designed for naval pulling races, but originally a practical ship's boat)

Sailing

Boats were a mixture of typical naval stock and somewhat strengthened "ordinary" dinghies.

There were the following fleets:

• ASC
  ASC (dinghy)
  The ASC or Admiralty Sailing Craft is a purpose built, rugged GRP or wood sailing dinghy, historically with gunter rig, with a bermuda rig optional, designed for use by UK naval and sea cadet establishments as a pulling or sailing dinghy.It is a substantial craft, usually left on a mooring in...
  
  s - the "Admiralty Sailing Craft" 16 foot gaff rigged dinghy, sometimes known as the GRP16, moored alongside the island.
• Bosun
  Bosun (dinghy)
  The Bosun is a 14 foot GRP sailing dinghy originally created for the Royal Navy by designer Ian Proctor and built by Bossoms Boatyard in 1963. The design specification was for a robust dinghy, able to handle open seas, capable of carrying a crew of 3 to 4 people and be fast enough for a competent...
  
  s, allegedly able to be swung out from Her Majesty's ships on a torpedo hoist in the middle of any ocean
• Cadet
  Cadet (dinghy)
  The Cadet is a junior trainer sailing dinghy designed by Jack Holt, in 1947, who was commissioned to design it by Yachting World-magazine.-Background:The boat is crewed by two people and sails with a bermuda rigged mainsail, jib and spinnaker...
  
  s, which were being phased out
• Coypu
  Coypu (dinghy)
  The Coypu is a class of small sailing dinghy. It is a highly stable boat, suitable for beginners, and is normally sailed by two people, although three can be accommodated comfortably.- Design :...
  
  s, a redoubtable short, fat, slow gaff rigged dinghy
• GP14s, heavily strengthened
• Fireball
  Fireball (dinghy)
  Originally designed by Peter Milne in 1962, the Fireball is a one-design high-performance sailing dinghy. The Fireball is sailed by a crew of two, and sports a single trapeze, symmetric spinnaker and chined hull. The class is strictly controlled, but has adapted to advances in building techniques...
  
  s, kept at Island Barn Reservoir
  Island Barn Reservoir
  The Island Barn Reservoir lies south of the River Thames in England at West Molesey. The reservoir is large with a capacity of 992 million gallons and is managed by Thames Water. It is within the borough of Elmbridge and is surrounded by the River Mole to the west and the River Ember to the east...
  
   for trapeze training
• Puffin Pacer
  Pacer (dinghy)
  The Pacer class of sailing dinghy, formerly known as the Puffin Pacer, was designed in the United Kingdom by Jack Holt. It was commissioned by Puffin Paints and Glues to be designed as yacht for use by families. It has since become a popular learning and racing dinghy in Australia, Canada, Holland,...
  
  s, a light Jack Holt
  Jack Holt (dinghy designer)
  Jack Holt, OBE was a prolific designer of sailing dinghies. His pioneering designs of dingies using plywood did much to popularise the sport of sailing in the period immediately following World War II....
  
   design made by Polycell Prout with a tendency to scoop up a large volume of water over the leeward quarter when hardening up

Schools which used Raven's Ait for watersports under the Navy League

• Epsom College
  Epsom College
  Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
  
  
• Stockwell Manor
• Forest hill school

External links

• 1st Surbiton Sea Scouts