Teenagers abused me says Lady McAlpine

LADY McALPINE says she was abused by a large group of teenagers while she was setting up for this weekend’s Thames Traditional Boat Festival in Henley, which starts today (Friday).

She said more than 100 of mainly 15- and 16-year-olds “invaded” Fawley Meadows, where the three-day event is being held, and refused to move despite being asked to do so.

The group began throwing furniture that was set to be used in the “food court” area and tried to vandalise the on-site toilets on Tuesday evening.

Lady McAlpine, who is co-chairman of the event, said: “We had an invasion of more than 100 teenagers who were seriously rude.

“I was trying to mark up the pitches on the site and they wouldn’t move on, which meant I couldn’t do anything and I couldn’t leave until it was done. They were mucking about and throwing my furniture about, which I provide for the food court and was stacked up ready for the tents to go up and they just helped themselves.

“They were also filling up the loos with toilet paper — it was typical unruly teenage behaviour.

“I asked them very politely to go as it is not public land and they argued that it was.

“There is a public footpath that runs through it and you must keep going along it — that’s the law — although nobody is going to complain if you dip your toes in the water to cool off.

“They didn’t like being told that and they got rude.

“I was saying, ‘Please, I am trying to do a job, how would you feel if your grandmother was put in this position?’ and said, ‘Look, I am 80, I don’t need abuse from a lot of kids’ and then they started being more polite.

“As the younger ones started to leave, some of the older ones began to pick up some of the litter they had left there so it all ended up being quite friendly, although they left a load of clothes behind.”

When she returned to the site on Wednesday she found that a mannequin belonging to Paul Clerehugh, chef proprietor of the Crooked Billet, had a mannequin stolen from his pop-up bar for the event.

Lady McAlpine is pointing the finger at the teenagers she saw the previous night as they had found the 6ft 1in figure very amusing.

She said: “They had all been taking pictures of the nude mannequin, which was all very funny to them, but they must have come back after they eventually left and taken it, although I don’t know that fur sure. To have this happen is just horrible.”

Mr Clerehugh has offer a free lunch or dinner at the Crooked Billet as a reward for the safe return of “Manni”.

He said: “Of course, I am gutted, I was very fond of him. It is a fairly new relationship and we have only been together four months.

“He had a bit too much to drink on Tuesday night so I had sat him comfortably on the bar and I left him there at about 8.30pm.

“Manni is very polite and handsome and I am very disappointed to have lost him.

“He had been residing at the Crooked Billet and the Trad was to be his first public outing.

“It is disappointing that a tiny element want to spoil some lovely, quirky and fun bits and pieces that Henley and its lovely festivals have to offer the public.

“It’s also a shame because he was looking forward to enjoying the performance of Clearwater Creedence Revival on Sunday. .”

This year’s ‘Trad’ has moved back to its usual July slot, having been postponed to August last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It iis the largest gathering of traditional river craft in Europe, featuring the Dunkirk “Little Ships”, patrol boats from the First World War, amphibious vehicles, historic military vehicles, classic cars, heavy horses, and an “antique street”.

Lady McAlpine said: “We have a lot of Dunkirk boats and then we have got every type of classic river boat and they will look beautiful as they are competing for awards. They are really very competitive. We will also have amazing torpedo boat from the First World War, which was designed to be radio-controlled from the air. When you say that to people they ask how big is it? Then you tell them that it is a full-size boat and, yes, it was controlled from the air back in 1914 and people are shocked.

“We will also be having First World War planes flying with it as it goes up the river.

“There is also a dog show which has turned into something that people have looked forward to. It’s all very silly and everyone ends up getting a prize.

“We have got local restaurants in the food court all with local produce — we are really insistent on that — and we have live music with local bands on each night.

“It is a Henley event for Henley people and it is for families.”

For more information and a full programme of events, visit www.tradboatfestival.com