Just a reminder that this Sunday’s session will include an opportunity to race around the island for those of you with competitive spirits, and a chance to help with some boat maintenance in order to keep our fleet of boats in good working order. Refreshments will be provided. Hope to see lots of you joining us at 10am on Sunday.
Summer rowing
If we have had Easter, it must be summer! Join us for our Thursday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday morning rowing sessions. Everyone welcome, whether you’ve rowed before, you want to learn, or you think a little extra practice in advance of the Goring and Streatley Regatta in July is a good idea!
We’re all looking forward to putting our latest eight on the water, newly arrived this week! (It’s not actually new….)
Red boards and no rowing!
The flooding on the Thames this year is not as bad as it was this time last year, but unfortunately it’s still too high and fast flowing for us to row, so Saturday and Sunday rowing is currently suspended.
Hopefully levels will drop faster than they did last year.
Rowing through Mapledurham lock
Images from our November row down to Reading – didn’t quite make it as far as Caversham Bridge – and it was a bit cold waiting to go though the locks – but it’s nice to be reminded how nice it is to row on a stretch of river with more moorhens than supermarket trolleys.
Beken prints
What are they you may ask?
Beken started their photography in 1888 when Alfred Edward Beken (1855-1915) came to Cowes & opened a pharmacy. It was his son Frank (1880-1970) who was so impressed by the classic yachts sailing off Cowes that he started the Beken Marine Photography Archive. In 1914 the ‘West’ collection of glass plates dating back to 1880 was purchased to add to his growing collection of negatives. By the 1930’s Frank’s son Keith (1914-2007) was busy photographing afloat and in 1970 Keith’s son Kenneth (b.1951) joined the Company. Each generation has earned the title “Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society” and the Company has held three Royal Warrants for excellence. More recently in 2001 staff colleague Peter Mumford became actively employed photographing afloat adding to the modern digital colour library.
Up to 1970 the photographs were signed Beken & Son by hand in white ink. From 1970 when colour photography came to the fore, until the darkrooms closed in 2008, all photographs were signed Beken of Cowes again by hand with white ink.
The Swan at Streatley has 16 A1 framed monochrome yachting prints available for sale at £125.00 each. 10% of any sale will be donated to the GGBC’s boathouse appeal!
For more info and reference images please refer to http://www.beken.co.uk