Peter Williams

UK Housing Review 2026. We are launching the latest review at the House of Lords today giving up to date comment and statistics on housing in the UK and its four constituent countries. Available online from later this afternoon at lnkd.in/e6fwSukv 📷

Great review of Titan today by Chris Dodds on the Hear the Boat Sing website heartheboatsing.com/2024/03/19/the… @unbounders @SandyNairne

Have you heard of Lord Desborough? LD or William Grenfell was an unlikely oarsman. He’d been a very fast runner at school but only started rowing at Oxford University. Within 18 months he found himself on the start line for the 1877 Boat Race 🧵 @SandyNairne @ProfPWilliams

To find out more about Lord Desborough, his biography 'Titan of the Thames' is available NOW from your favourite bookshop... unbound.com/books/titan @SandyNairne @ProfPWilliams

Once appointed as President of the Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps, he was determined that the government should recognise how much useful work could be done to support the war effort. Here he is in a news photo supervising volunteer efforts at Didcot in 1917.

When the War started Willy Desborough was too old to serve as a regular soldier. However, he established a vital role coordinating the efforts of volunteers across the country.

Boulter’s Lock near Maidenhead was famous for overcrowding, so in 1912 it was rebuilt. And an electric conveyor system was added so that small wooden boats could bypass the lock.

Willy was appointed as chair of the Thames Conservancy in 1905 and served in that position for 35 years. Many important improvements were made – to avoid flooding, prevent pollution, renew fishing and increase leisure use of the Thames.

So, Willy, now Lord Desborough, pitched for London to be host city. Despite many diplomatic tensions, the building of a modern stadium at White City and setting internationally agreed rules contributed to a hugely successful London Olympics – a triumph for Desborough.

He won the Amateur Championship three times, and helped set up the Thames Punting Club. For one commentator his punting gave “an unforgettable impression of superb movement and power, of perfect balance and rhythm … an exhibition of human strength coordinated.”

With five children, the family and Ettie were the central axis of Willy’s life. 1,324 letters to her have survived (written when travelling and now in the Hertfordshire archive) – testimony to his devotion.

The determination of the Oxford crew was sorely tested when an oar broke, but the result was extraordinary – a dead heat! The only dead heat in 168 years of the race...

Four years later, after someone questioned whether he’d achieved this, he went back and swam the basin again.

Jeremy Hunt pulls £200mn from councils after clawing back house sale funds ft.com/content/79d479… via @ft This is madness and it highlights the extent to which the barrel has been scraped

His Act shrank the current 35 day range to a more modest few days. Seemingly the issue is getting different churches and others to agree but has anyone tried recently?

Desborough’s fight to fix the date is detailed in a new biography “Titan of the Thames”. The Archbishop of Canterbury has supported the change (in 2016) suggesting it would be in place within 10 years. Time is running out!

Want an Easter tweet? This year its 31st March. Lord Desborough fought with steely determination to get a fixed date and succeeded with the Easter Act, 1928. But no government has put in place a commencement order. It remains the oldest piece of legislation still on the shelf!

Hands up who knows the name of their parliamentary constituency sussexbylines.co.uk/politics/hands…

@SandyNairne @unbounders Bound to be a best seller! Great to see it so close after 8 years of research! Hope readers enjoy it

Peter Williams and I had a good day in Swindon with colleagues from Unbound signing copies of our Titan of the Thames, the first biography of the great Lord Desborough ... about to go out to subscribers and is published - Hooray - on 8th February. @unbounders @ProfPWilliams

@cassier_barton Wendy has been the most fantastic servant of the HOC but also the wider housing community and the public beyond. Her contributions and those of colleagues are hugely appreciated. Can I add my thanks to Wendy for a job really well done. Very best wishes, Peter

Last night, I was at the retirement party of a true Commons Library legend. Wendy Wilson is one of a kind, and it has been a privilege to work with her for the last 8 years. A roomful of people wearing these was a sight to behold...