Riversniffers covers life in the area bordering the Thames from Barnes to Sunbury.
The term Riversniffers was coined by John Foster, the one-time (and now long-departed) landlord of the White Swan in Richmond. He used it to describe the hordes of day trippers who invaded his pub at weekends in search of a day out at the end of the District Line.
Like John Foster’s original riversniffers, the contributors to this site came because they liked the river and the open spaces. Unlike the daytrippers, however, they stayed on.
If you want to contact us, the email address is: admin@riversniffers.com
22/06/2011.Having just attended my godfathers Mr Michael Wastnage’s funeral who was a very close friend and well known customer of my father John Foster of the White Swan, i met some gentlemen who new my father and told me the story of the Riversniffers.They informed me about this web site and the acknowledgement my father had to the creation of this terminology. Knowing what Michael and my father were like they probably came up with this name after quite a few shots of whisky on one of my fathers well known lockin’s. My mother Ursula and i both live in the Witterings south of Chichester close to the sea so i can only suggest Seasniffers for down here. We do call daytrippers by lots of other names but the one i like is DANS. This came about due to no matter who you talked to they were” DAN FROM LANDIN” be it male or female. It is a small world down here as i have met a few people in the past who did or still reside here who new my both of my parents including Mr Roy Annett formerly the chief editor of the Richmond and Twickenham Times and a guy for the life of me i can’t remember his name but he was the manager of the Madingley Club in Ducks Walk. Thought i’d share this with you.
Many thanks,
Jonathan Foster