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The webmaster is Mike Wignall. If you'd like to comment on any aspect of the site by pointing out inadvertent errors of fact or of omission please feel free to contact him at:

Likewise if any internal or external links are found to be broken it would be appreciated if they were reported. Although the validity of the links are checked from time to time as part of the site updating process, problems can occur. Thanks.

Quotations from various published books for which the authors' hold the copyright, are included in the page content of this site. The text comprising these quotations has been copied under 'fair practice, fair dealing or usage' as defined in current UK copyright law. This is normally interpreted as allowing the copying of copyright material, without specific permission, providing it is in connection with activities involving criticism or parody, comment and reporting, teaching and presentation, or personal research. In keeping with the spirit only extracts of standalone topics have been be copied, the source of the original text has been provided in terms of author and publisher, and the copied text has been quoted verbatim and enclosed in single inverted commas [quotation marks].

The barges that take part in the annual Thames Match are all perpetuating a form of living history. Given their proven ability to survive past 100 years it is very likely that they will still be around when we current set of barge enthusiasts have all gone the way of Henry Dodd himself. Dust - part of the material constituting the "tall dark mounds" in Mr. Boffin's yard and the basis of the wealth that allowed Dodd to perpetuate the Match through placing £5000 in trust to the Fishmongers’ Company in 1881, to provide prizes for future Matches. It therefore seems appropriate to echo this circular continuity for the future, by providing a brief history of the site itself.

The site originally came into being in 1999 through the efforts of Michael Mainelli of Z/Yen whose wife, Elisabeth, owns SB Lady Daphne. The site was originally designed and maintained by Z/Yen staff on behalf of the Thames Match Committee until October 2003. Webmasters during that period were Mary O'Callaghan, Rakesh Shah and Laura Wright.

The site was transferred to a new server in October 2003 and responsibility for its updating and future evolution passed to Mike Wignall, as the new webmaster for the Committee. The site design was subsequently progressively changed in parts to a magazine format to improve its visual appeal, in a way that tried not to detract from its existing content.

Its content has since been considerably expanded to finally incorporate outstanding Match Programmes, Match Posters and also add some additional historical information regarding the Match beginnings. Wherever possible i.e. where known, acknowledgement has been given to previous contributors at the foot of each page. If you happen to know the provenance of the information in any of the unacknowledged pages in the site - please contact the current webmaster [see the top of the page] with the information so that due recognition can be retrospectively made.

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