TEDDINGTON's Skiff Club will be providing the honour guard today (Friday) in the spectacular re-enactment of Admiral Lord Nelson's funeral procession, 200 years after the Battle of Trafalgar.
Eighteen members of The Skiff Club, which is based on the riverbank across from Trowlock Island, will be at the centre of the 40-strong flotilla together with two other clubs, and will raise their 15ft long oars to the admiral three times in two replica 1829 gigs, Came and Old Balliol.
The replicas of the boats used in the first Oxford Cambridge Boat Race will flank The Jubilant, which was built for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. It will be taking the place of King Charles II's Royal Barge on which Nelson's coffin was transported, for the re-enactment procession from Greenwich to Westminster.
Five members of Teddington's Skiff Club, which was founded 1895 and is the world's oldest skiff club, have rowed the Atlantic.
Rowing for his constituency as a VIP will be Twickenham MP Vincent Cable in Cam.
Paul Gregory, a member of the Teddington Skiff Club, said: "It is a great honour to be in Nelson's funeral procession, particularly as we have very experienced ex-military men in the boats."
Visit www.theskiffclub.org.uk/ to find out more about The Teddington Skiffs.
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA) has been nominated as the charity to be supported in commemoration of this event.
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