Thames Young Mariners facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Thames Young Mariners Outdoor Education Centre |
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The Thames Young Mariners Base Lagoon in use by a school group.
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| General information | |
| Address | Thames Young Mariners Outdoor Education Centre, Riverside Drive, Ham, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 7RX |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°26′17″N 0°19′38″W / 51.4379888°N 0.3273206°W |
| Owner | Surrey Outdoor Learning & Development |
Thames Young Mariners is an exciting outdoor education center. It covers 25 acres of land in Ham. This cool place has a calm 10-acre lake. It's called the Thames Young Mariners Base Lagoon. This lake connects to the River Thames through a lock. The center started over 40 years ago. It sits between Richmond and Kingston.
Thames Young Mariners is surrounded by Ham Lands. This is a huge 200-acre Local Nature Reserve. Ham Lands has lots of wildlife. You can find animals in its woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. It also has one of Britain's best-preserved heaths.
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What's the History of Thames Young Mariners?
Back in the 1800s, this area had three farms. They were all owned by a person called the Earl of Dysart. But things changed between the 1900s and 1950s. Farming stopped here. Instead, people built houses and dug for gravel.
A lot of the Ham Lands area was used to dig up gravel. The Thames Young Mariners Base Lagoon is not natural. It's actually an old gravel pit. After the pits were no longer used, they were filled with water in 1952. This created the lake for people to enjoy.
What Can You Do at Thames Young Mariners Today?
Today, Surrey Outdoor Learning & Development owns Thames Young Mariners. They offer many fun outdoor learning programs. These programs are officially recognized by the Royal Yachting Association and the British Canoe Union.
Exciting Activities to Try
You can try many activities at Thames Young Mariners. These include:
- Adventure walks and night walks
- Archery
- Bell boating
- Open canoeing
- Challenge courses
- Climbing
- Kayaking
- Mountain biking
- Orienteering
- Raft building
- Sailing
- Team tasks
- Woodland skills
Many of these activities can be changed. This makes them suitable for groups with disabilities.
Other Cool Facilities
The center also has other useful facilities. You can rent conference rooms for meetings. There are also camping grounds available. A new Teepee village is called ‘Buffalo Creek’. Here, visitors can build and maintain campfires.
The campsite is not for the general public. It's only for educational groups. This includes groups working on their Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Images for kids
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The Thames Young Mariners Base Lagoon in use by a school group.
