Recreational rowing on the Thames. Beginners, new members and visiting clubs welcome.
With autumn drawing in and the bridge at Whitchurch closed, we are drawing Thursday evening sessions to a close. We are still happily rowing on Saturday and Sunday mornings. As part of the bridge replacement, Pangbourne lock will close in early November, so for a special session on Saturday 26th we plan to row up to Gatehampton to see our (hoped for) new home .
If you are free on Sunday, please come along to our special Club Meeting session at 10am. We will be having some fun racing around the island in scratch crews (rowing v sculling), offering coffee and Danish pastries, and sharing the latest information on the boathouse planning application. For those of you who live south of the river, the bridge at Whitchurch will still be open – it closes on Thursday next week. Everyone is most welcome, whether you want to row or cox or scull or just eat Danish pastries …..
From next month, the GGBC Pilates sessions will be starting again. I know that some new members who joined in the summer were particularly interested in this. Pilates is a great way of improving your rowing, and by joining together as GGBC members we are able to offer a great value course of sessions. The activity is organised by Club member Elizabeth Smith.
Pilates classes are held on a Wednesday evening, commencing at 19:30, until 20:30. The venue is St. Bernadette’s Church Hall, Horseshoe Road, Pangbourne (RG8 7JL). There is plenty of parking at the side and rear of the building, so we should be able to avoid parking on the street.
Classes will probabably commence Wednesday, 9th October and run until 18th December (i.e. a 10-week session, with a break for half-term – date TBC), 19:30 – 20:30. However, to achieve this we need to have sufficient interest shown by Friday 4th October, otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to commence– so please express any interest ASAP.
The cost of classes will be £50 (keeping it at the same cost as previous sessions) – this will cover the usual costs for the hire of the hall, and the instructor.
If you would like to express your interest in attending, I would therefore be grateful if you could kindly confirm your interest directly to Elizabeth Smith on 07970 010370 or via email – elizabeth.smith@hp.com
On Wednesday August 7th, Olympic Champion Helen Glover and Goring Gap Boat Club hosted a “Join-In” morning at GGBC’s facilities near Pangbourne. Join-In have produced an official video that you can view here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dqoc8BxZ9Q&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4UgBNXFpza9AUT4l_s9Yzw. Local people were given an opportunity to give rowing a try, with Helen offering encouragement from a coaching launch and even serving them tea afterwards. Earlier Helen had made presentations to some of GGBC’s longest serving volunteers.
Goring Gap Boat Club has previously benefited from the support of other Olympic champions such as Sir Steve Redgrave and Zac Purchase, who last March launched the Club’s fundraising campaign for a new boathouse.
See the Reading Chronicle’s report on the event, with video
Thanks to Mark Phillips of Skullduggery for letting us use the video.