Rowing through Mapledurham lock

Going through Mapledurham lock

scull in 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.

Special club session on Sunday 24th November

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

Special Club Session this Saturday

If you are free on Saturday morning, please come along to our special Club session starting at 9am. For a change, we plan to row our boats under Whitchurch bridge, through the lock, and up to the railway bridge at Lower Basildon (and back!!). The distance is not great (each way is roughly equivalent to rowing our normal route from boathouse to Whitchurch to Mapledurham to boathouse) but it will be an opportunity to enjoy a different stretch of the river. All the boats will be back before 11am in time for coffee and refreshments. We would like to scull and row, and – as always – all standards of ability and fitness will be catered for. Currently it is forecast to be dry on Saturday morning.

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