King Aethelstan and Sae Wylfing
The date and year; September 4th 925, The Place, Kingston (on Thames).
Aethalstan; Grandson of King Alfred the Great, son of Edward the Elder and nephew of the Lady of the Mercians ,Aetheflaed, to whom he was fostered from the age of six; has completed the conquest of the Viking held territory known as the Danelaw. Now Angleland is at last one Kingdom and He has come to Kingston for his coronation.
On the 6th September 2025, 1100 years later a great celebration is to be held at Kingston. Sae Wylfing, the half length replica of the Sutton Hoo burial ship which is on permanent loan to the Woodbridge Riverside Trust, based in The Longshed at Woodbridge will have the honour to carry Aethalstan down river to the place of his coronation
Sae Wylfing will be crewed by volunteers from the Sutton Hoo Ships Company and the Woodbridge Coastal rowing Club. She is being transported to Kingston from the Melton Boatyard where she will be lifted from the river Deben on to a trailer for the journey
Once at Kingston she will be launched onto the River Thames at the Ajax Sea Scouts slipway in Long Ditton. This is less than a mile from the start point of the flotilla, which includes 2 Georgian Shallops, a Carolean Shallop, a Thames Wherry and assorted Cutters, Skerries and Skiffs.
The local community will be represented on the river in various motor pleasure boats with Tamil dancers, Bangladeshi musicians and Korean dancers, all being carried to Canbury Gardens in Kingston where the Mayor will meet “Aethelstan” as he steps ashore from Sae Wylfing.
