THE MILEPOST

Though we all see the Fairbairn Memorial at the Milepost from the river (a very welcome sight during the Head), I wonder how many members have actually been up the towpath, to see it up close.

It was erected in the 1950s in memory of the father of modern rowing Steve Fairbairn (1862-1938) by members of London, Thames, Leander and Jesus College Cambridge, all of which had benefited from Steve’s enlightened coaching. As many will know, Steve was the founder of the Head of the River Race, the precursor of similar races, now held all over the country and, indeed, the world. The memorial was erected at the Milepost, and when the original metal post rusted away, it became the official marker on the Boat Race course.

The same group of former rowers also set up the Fairbairn Trust, which for many years supported Tideway and upriver clubs with small grants and interest-free loans, the latter very valuable in times of high inflation, and LRC benefitted on a number of occasions. Towards the end of the last decade, it was decided to cease the Trust’s activities, and to distribute the accumulated funds among the Tideway clubs, if they could put forward a good proposal for the use of the funds. As luck would have it, LRC was urgently raising funds for the new gym, and was much in need of some substantial support. The project found favour, and the Trust provided donations totalling £115,000, which enabled the full project to proceed and produce the magnificent facilities we now enjoy.

With the Trust no longer having the ability to handle the upkeep of the memorial, as a quid pro quo the Club undertook to look after its maintenance. A significant amount of work has been done this year, with the enclosure railings now stripped down and repainted, culminating in a gardening blitz carried out by Andrew Boyle and myself just after Christmas. The attached photo shows the results, together with the two rather knackered gardeners.

Steve moved suddenly from Thames to London in 1926. This seismic event followed an almighty argument between Steve and Julius Beresford, the grand old man of TRC. The attached article highlights the change of letterhead when Steve was gaining support for the HoRR.

Fairbairn Letters 1926

The arrival of Steve at LRC heralded a golden period for the Club. Soon there were spectacular results at Henley again. After winning the Goblets in 1927, London won the Grand four times in the 1930s, the Thames Cup three times, the Stewards’ twice and the Wyfold six times. No doubt the engagements with TRC in the period would have made today’s relationship with that club seem positively cordial!

So, going forward, we need volunteers to keep the memorial in good shape, the main effort being simply to keep the weeds and brambles at bay. Anyone wishing to volunteer for a couple of hours every three months as the seasons change, please let either me (president@londonrc.org.uk) or Andrew (secretary@londonrc.org.uk) know.

Mike Baldwin
President, London Rowing Club

CHAIRMAN’S VIEW

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break and I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.

2024 was a great year for the Club with the squad achieving some terrific wins, including reaching the final of the Wargrave at HRR for the first time.

The new squad from September is stronger than ever and shows great promise for the coming year. Our Masters group has grown and goes from strength to strength and all are enjoying their rowing in the Irregulars.

Your committee continues to steer the Club with priorities of sound financial management, maximising the rowing, gym and social offering to our members and managing capital investment in our club house.

We have held a governance review and still believe the current sub committees handling rowing, finance, property, membership and events reporting to a small General Committee is the most effective structure.

I am hoping to see as many of you as possible at the Club soon and looking forward to an exciting period ahead for LRC.

Bill Baker
Chairman, London Rowing Club

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

December proved to be full of activity and festive cheer at the Club – a really great way to bring 2024 to a close. We finally saw head races return to the Tideway after so many cancellations in the Autumn, with the Remenham Challenge on Saturday 14th December.

LRC came away with three pennants on the day, winning the Men’s Open Champ, Men’s Masters 4x- and Women’s Masters 4x categories. A huge congratulation to our winners, well done to everyone who took part and a big thank you to everyone who helped organised and volunteer on the day.

Club Pride part 1 took place on Sunday, 15 December and saw the men and women’s squads turn out in full force to give the gym, changing rooms and Ashton Room a thorough clean. A massive thanks to everyone who turned out and got stuck in and to Ed Fawcett and Bob Silver for helping coordinate. We managed to complete all tasks comfortably in just over 2 hours – exceeding my expectations!

The next part of Club Pride will take place in the spring when the bays, roof, balcony and bike area will be tackled – more on that closer to the time.

The successes of the Remenham Challenge and Club Pride were nicely followed by the annual LRC Christmas Party. It was great to see members come down for a night of sparkles, nibbles and carols. A really big thanks to the events team for organising and to Ben Helm for bringing the carols!

A couple housekeeping bits from me now that we are halfway through winter. We are looking into a changing room cleaning protocol for both the men’s and women’s rooms to ensure they are kept as tidy as possible, something which is a challenge particularly in the colder months. Comms will go out on this when confirmed.

At the committee, we have also noted a few incidents since the start of the season and thought it appropriate to remind members of the Club’s fleet damages policy. This what our rules and bye-laws provide:

Rule 23. DAMAGE TO PROPERTY: Any Member who wilfully or negligently damages in any way any property of the Club or the Company or any property entrusted to the Club or the Company shall, at the discretion of the Committee, be called upon to make good such damage.

3Bye-Law 10

Damage Reporting

1. All damage arising from the use of Club boats and/or equipment or from the use of any privately owned boat launched from the Club premises shall be reported by its crew or user to Fleet Repairs

2. A full report will be required for all Club hulls, the report shall contain such particulars as are required by the Thames Rowing Region, British Rowing and as the General Committee may from time to time prescribe and/or as may be required by the Club’s insurers;

3. The crew or user shall not admit liability to any third party;

4. The crew or user shall be liable (if more than one, jointly and severally) to indemnify the Club against all loss and expense sustained by the Club (including any liability to a third party), which for any reason cannot be recovered from the Club’s insurers including the excess.

Bye-Law 10.4 is particularly to note that an entire crew is liable if a boat is damaged and will be called upon to pay the excess if the Club has fall back on insurance for repairs.

For new members these rules may be unfamiliar so please take the time to read and understand the policies we have in place at LRC. You can find them on the LRC website.

I trust everyone had a joyful Christmas and enjoyed happy New Year celebrations. I am really looking forward to seeing what 2025 has in store for the Club, kicking off with Quintin Head on Saturday, 25 January. Looking forward to seeing you there, either racing or spectating!

Bang the drum!

Rob Porter
Captain, London Rowing Club

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

See more detail for these events, visit our Calendar of Events…

ANNUAL DINNER

The tickets for the Annual Dinner on Thursday 30th January are now on sale. This is a sit down 3 course meal with member prices at the bar.

We look forward to seeing members and their guests there, please keep an eye out for the menu which will be released soon.

https://members.londonrc.org.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=149

Annie Jackson

ROWING TOUR TO FRIESLAND

There is a rowing tour to Friesland 24th to 28th April organised by Frank ter voorde - an overseas member of LRC - with an option for a sailing trip to the Wadden Islands over an additional 2 days.

Cost is €1425 plus € 475 if the sailing option is also chosen - full food and board flights excl. Richard Metcalf and Eddie Markes did it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. We covered about 120 kms in three days.

Please email me to let me know if anyone is interested as soon as possible.

2 of the 8 double skiffs ( holding 4 ) with one of the three " mother ships " in the background. A really great experience!

Numbers need to be confirmed by 15 January.

Eddie Markes

NEW MEMBERS

We would like to welcome the following new members to the Club:

Ollie Altmeyer
Emily Butler

We hope you will enjoy being part of the London Rowing Club community and will help us build an ever happier and more successful club.

We are always pleased to have more members so, if you know of anyone who you think might like to join the Club, please either let us know or encourage them to get in touch with us themselves.

There is information on becoming a member on our website or you can email the Club’s Membership Secretary:

Andrew Boyle
Honorary Secretary, London Rowing Club

T.B.LANGTON MC

With Series 2 of the BBC Drama Rogue Heroes having started recently, this is an opportune moment for members to remember a former club member, T. B. Langton MC, who served as club captain in 1946.

Tom Langton learned to row at Radley where he earned a place at Jesus College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he rowed in the Boat Race in 1937 and 1938. In ‘37, Cambridge lost the race for the first time in 13 years to an OUBC crew whose president, Jock Lewes, was not in the boat. He also rowed for Jesus in the final of the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley that year but was beaten by a fine German crew by half a length. In ‘38, he was elected President of CUBC but his crew lost in one of the best and closest of races.

After coming down from Cambridge, Tom travelled to South Africa but returned in 1939 to join first the Navy and then he transferred to the Army. He was gazetted as lieutenant into the Irish Guards.

Bored with regular soldiering, he transferred to Number 8 Commando who were being sent to the middle east. Here he crossed paths with Jock Lewes who, by then, had helped found the new SAS unit. As a fellow oarsman, Jock knew that Tom would make an ideal candidate for their new type of unconventional warfare. Langton, with his aquatic skills and athleticism was one of the earliest recruits for the Special Boat Section (SBS), the commandos’ waterborne raiding party.

In 1942 the city of Tobruk had fallen to Rommel and thousands of British and Allied troops had been taken prisoner. General Headquarters Middle East came up with a hair-brained plan called Operation Agreement, using the SAS and other special operations commandos to infiltrate the city long enough to release the prisoners while a main assault force of regular troops landed nearby.

The raid was a devastating failure for the Allies and more detail can be found online. However, Tom distinguished himself in his leadership, bravery and endurance both during and after the operation He was one of the few who managed to escape to fight again.

For this he was awarded the Military Cross. The citation reads.

132243 W/S Lieutenant Thomas Bennett LANGTON, Irish Guards, SAS Regiment
This officer accompanied the party which went overland from KUFRA to TOBRUK to take part in the raid of 13 Sep 42. After entering TOBRUK perimeter with the rest of the party by night, Lieut. LANGTON made his way through enemy positions to a point on the coast from where he was to signal in the MTBs of the seaborne force. Only two got in, which he met on the beach, and then in spite of great enemy activity, returned to his post and continued to send out his signals, When dawn broke and no further MTBs arrived he attempted, but without success, to start one of the two which had come in, while another officer brought its guns into action against the enemy. A further attempt to put to sea in an assault boat was stopped by enemy fire. Lieut. LANGTON then made up a party and lying up day got them out of the TOBRUK perimeter at night under fire, and led them from one Arab encampment to another until they found refuge in a village near BARDIA. After 4 weeks in hiding the party set out on 26 Oct to return to our lines, and on 13 Nov met our own forces near HIMEIMAT. Lieut. LANGTON showed great courage and initiative during the raid itself, while his resource and leadership were chiefly responsible for bringing a party on foot through 360 miles of enemy territory to safety.

He continued to serve with D Squadron 1 SAS into 1943. His promotion to captain was gazetted on 24 June 1943. When the SBS was set up as a separate unit, he formed part of it and was involved in covert operations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In 1944 until the end of the war he was a major with 1 SAS (HQ, B and A Squadrons) 1944-45. Following D Day, these units operated deep behind German lines. They operated in the knowledge that, following direct orders from the top, the Germans were under instructions not to take any special forces personnel prisoner. Any SAS men captured were to be executed.

Having been demobilised, he started work in the City and re-started rowing, becoming Club Captain in 1946 and rowing in the Grand that year. It is worth noting that two other members of that crew, John H. Pinches and W.T.Robertson, had been awarded the Military Cross during the war. This is perhaps a testament to the mentality and resilience of oarsmen.

He led a successful Underwriting Syndicate at Lloyds, became Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Lloyds, Deputy Chairman of the Fisher Committee dealing with the self-regulation of Lloyds, and twice Master of the Skinners Company.

He was appointed Honorary Colonel of 39 (City of London) Signals Regiment. A keen Freemason, he was installed as Provincial Grand Master of Hampshire and Isle of Wight and made a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire.

He stood for adoption as Conservative candidate for Finchley in 1967 but was defeated by Mrs Margaret Thatcher.

He died in 1986.

Richard Philips

6S AND 7S LUNCH

The Annual 6s & 7s Club Lunch, 7th November, attracted 20 past and present members of LRC (- 2 members (Julian Ebsworth and David Thomson regrettably were absent due to ill health).

Everyone assembled in the Members’ Room before lunch and you may be able to recognise many previous and current active Oars.

(From L to R) Christopher Grainger, Robert Rakison, Lee Marriner, Dr Iain Reid (behind), Mike Baldwin, Brian Richardson, Elizabeth Cottrell (Captain 2022-2023 and Guest of Julian Ebsworth), Chris Sprague, Peter Fraser (seated), Tim Cox (behind), Hugh Burkitt, Cecilia Collins Taylor (Vice Captain), Mike Williams OBE, Miles Preston (behind).John Auber, Hugh Samuel, Patrick Wilson (behind), Robin Cameron Cooper, Alan Foster, John Brocklebank.

Lunch was served in the Long Room: a change of normal venue as, pleasingly, the Members’ Room could not accommodate this marvellous turn-out.

As the name implies the event is a chance for those who rowed together at the Club in the 1960s and 1970s, to catch up with each other and the Club news. At the same time new projects are agreed, paid for from their contributions, bringing extra benefit to the Club outside the normal Committee responsibilities (ie being the provision of rowing equipment and maintenance of the building). The fruits of these projects may pass virtually unnoticed, except by a few, such as the acquisition of memorabilia, the updating and maintenance of Honours Boards and Club History. A particular exception to this general rule was the funding, many years ago, of the 6s&7s sculling shed in the Gap Site.

Of the 3 projects agreed upon this year, one has already been completed (the important purchase of two historic Rowing Almanacs, giving LRC perhaps one of the few Clubs that possess a complete set), another which is being actively being pursued (a historic painting of ‘our’ bit of The Thames) and one whichshould be completed in the New Year (a more visible enhancement to the Fairbairn Room).

In all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and productive occasion: an event to be repeated next year.

Postscript –“Yet Stands The .. Clock at….”

During lunch it was noticed that the clock behind the bar was not working and whether its repair was a suitable future project for the 6s&7s Club. John Auber immediately announced that he had had training on Horology and would mend it himself. The clock was taken away and repaired and is now back in the bar and is working perfectly. Many thanks.

Alan Foster

CASAMAJOR CLUB DRAW RESULTS

The winners of the Casamajor Club Christmas Star prizes are:

Ciaran Hayes £600
Alan Foster £200

Additional £75 prizes have also been won by:

Michael Gormley
Tim Grant
Janice Herrod
Bob Silver
James Evans

John Auber

PETER JONES

News has reached us of the sad passing in early December of Peter Jones, a leading cox of London crews from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. We have started collecting together some reminiscences over the Christmas period and hope to be able to publish a short obituary in the next issue of The London Roar.

REPORTING SAFETY INCIDENTS

All members are reminded that if you are involved in or witness a water safety incident, you are required to report it using the following email address – safety@londonrc.org.uk

The Club will file any necessary reports on your behalf with British Rowing and the PLA. Members should not submit reports directly to either body.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this edition of the London Roar. If you have an idea for an article or would be interested in submitting a piece for inclusion in a future edition, please email me on miles.preston@londonrc.org.uk

Please do not submit an article without first liaising with me.

Miles Preston
Editor of The London Roar