Recreational rowing on the Thames. Beginners, new members and visiting clubs welcome.
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….)
It’s now been about 6 months since you took up the GGBC £10 Boathouse challenge and it’s time to collect in all the profits made to date.
We are holding a special club session on Sunday 24th November and as well as a longer than usual row through the lock at Mapledurham we would like you to bring along all the money you have made from the various fundraising activities that have taken place over the last few months.
It will be an opportunity to have an update on the progress with the planning application for the boathouse and celebrate your fundraising activities. If you haven’t managed to put your £10 note to good use yet, come along and get some ideas from others who have used it to generate more funds. If you would like to keep your £10 and continue fundraising, that’s fine – just let me have any profits to date.
If you can’t make it on this date, please get in touch so that I can arrange to collect your fundraising efforts (boathouse challenge and loose change jars).
Many thanks for all your efforts and I look forward to seeing you on 24th November.
Ros Crowder
ros.crowder@btinternet.com
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
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
A special Club session is planned for Saturday 31st August starting a little later than usual at 10am. Our friends from Adventure Dolphin will be paddling down in their kayaks for an “exchange visit”. You will have an opportunity to try out canoeing under their guidance and supervision, and then we will try to teach them to row. Bacon rolls will be provided by the Purley and Pangbourne scouts in return for a small donation. It should be a fun morning so please make a special effort to come along.