A working Thames craft tradition at Richmond Bridge.
Boats have been built and mended on this stretch of the Thames for over three hundred years. This workshop keeps that trade alive, and working.
The workshop
Richmond Boat Services is run by Gaz, working from the boathouses at Richmond Bridge. [TBC]
The work is traditional: wooden boats, built and repaired by hand, using methods that have earned their keep over generations. What has changed is who asks for them. Alongside private owners, the yard now builds and adapts craft for film and television, where period accuracy and reliability matter as much as they do on the water.
How we work
Straight answers
If a job is not worth doing, we say so. If a deadline is not possible, we say that too.
Visible work
Clients are welcome in the workshop. Progress photos come as standard on every build.
Built to last
A repair should outlive the argument about its price. That is the standard.
Come and see the yard
The best way to understand the work is to stand next to it.