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Hedley West

I sadly have to report the news that my good friend Hedley West passed away last week after a long illness, he was 74 years old.

Hedley was a founder member of the GGBC and never actually rowed for the club, although his son Peter did for many years. Hedley was a major player in setting up our first regatta and was an absolute stalwart working on all our regattas right through to the time when he became ill. To quote Brian Barnes on hearing of his death “That is very sad, he taught me all that I know about Regattas when I was his helper!”. A great man who will be sorely missed.

John Wills

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Boathouse Progress

Due to the recent wet weather, progress on site has been rather limited, however the steel frame is now complete, the roof is on and the wooden cladding is being put in position. We hope that the heatwave will dry up the site and work can continue over the next few weeks and will hopefully be completed during May.

During the last few months the boathouse commissioning group and the various work package leaders have been busy making plans and costing materials so that once the contractors have left site our volunteer labour force can move on to the site and start work. If you haven’t currently been involved in this work but would like to offer to help, or know of others who might be interested (we are open to offers of help from anyone not just club members), please get in touch with Brian Barnes.

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Welcome Back to Rowing Weekend on 28th & 29th April

We hope that club members who have not rowed much recently, have had a break over the winter, or have recently joined the club will come along for extended club sessions at the end of the month.

On Saturday 28th we will have the usual club session from 9 – 11am with tea/coffee and cakes/pastries available after the session if you would like to stay on and chat to other club members, hear about future events and get an update on the boathouse construction.

On Sunday 29th the club session from 10 – 12 will continue with a BBQ for all.

At both sessions there will be coaches available so if you feel your technique is a bit rusty you can have some coaching and an opportunity to try out a variety of boats. Do try and join us, bring a few pennies for the refreshments (reasonable prices but any profit will go towards the boathouse) and let’s get lots of club members back out on the water.