The Early Days
Setting the scene
St Edmund Hall Boat Club was formed in Hilary Term of 1861 at a time when undergraduates were very few in number and when the future of medieval halls was under threat; all of them, except Teddy Hall, were abolished in 1877 and the Hall became a dependency of Queen’s.
It is astonishing that the Hall, with such small numbers and with such a precarious existence, was ever able to organise any crew, whether in fours, eights or torpids; indeed in the first twenty-five years after the Boat Club was formed, the Hall was unable to enter a boat for Summer Eights on no fewer than eight occasions.
When the Hall put its first eight on the river, in 1861, there were twenty men in residence. It was generally said in the University that when the eleven were at cricket, the eight and their cox were there to watch them play, and that when the eight was on the river in the evening, the eleven were on the tow-path cheering them on. (Hall Magazine 1919-20)
Teddy Hall’s first appearance in Summer Eights was in 1861; a Hall crew entered the University Clinker Fours in 1889, the first year in which the competition had been held; and the first time a Hall Torpid competed was in 1901. The Hall’s first win of an OUBC event was the Clinker Fours of Michaelmas Term 1930; and its first appearance at Henley Royal Regatta was in the Ladies’ Plate in 1934.
Training
Compared with today’s strenuous training regime, for our predecessors training was a much more measured business; in October 1871 it was recorded that:
Training lasted about a fortnight: it consisted chiefly in the men abstaining from pastry & other indigestible food, keeping regular hours for rising & going to bed & regular exercise.
Presumably this exercise was of the sort contained in the following Log Book entry a year later:
About a fortnight before the race [Challenge Fours], men began partial training - this was not of a strict kind - regular meals & hours were enjoined & pipes forbidden; before breakfast the crews took a constitutional round the meadows [Christ Church Meadow].
By Trinity Term 1886, the training regime was founded on much more scientific principles:
Some new points were introduced with advantage, the sharp spin of 100 yards during morning work improved the wind immensely; porridge instead of beef on alternate mornings with the beef to lunch on corresponding days during half-training eased the digestion and the men’s tempers. I see however that boils are now ascribed to beer: would it then be well to try one pint per diem and as much water afterwards according to each man’s discretion. One thing must certainly be done by substituting boiled cocoa-nut milk for tea in the morning.
Food has always been close to a rower’s heart. A note to the Chef in Trinity Term 2001 on the subject of ‘Men’s 1st VIII Rowers - Meals’ set out these requirements:
Cut out all unnecessary fats
High protein
Soup & Bread
Steak or Chicken etc.
Plus Pasta
But this worked out as the equivalent of two dinners per head.
Crews
A crew is only as good as the sum of its parts: that sum is composed not only of the abilities of individual crew members but also of the willingness of each to contribute to the whole. Captain’s Books (no longer kept) of earlier years contained some pithy (and very probably libellous) remarks by the Captain of Boats on individual crew members:
No. 2, who stuck most persistently to that peculiar style of rowing in practice among Coastguardsmen & beach loafers (he hailed from the Welsh coast) was kicked out.
His back is so weak that although by no means the smallest man in the boat, he is scarcely visible to the naked eye as he sinks down at the end of the stroke, being more like an aged lady oppressed with cares than a lusty Teddy man. Still as he caught no crabs he may be congratulated.
…and even a cox does not escape criticism:
He had neither much sense nor much watermanship. On the day we bumped Worcester II he twice ran the boat into the bank and narrowly missed a punt as well. In spite of this he was cheery.
Coaches have always been essential to the formation of a good crew; until launches became ubiquitous, coaching was either done from within the boat (with the coach, of no matter what weight, acting as cox) or from the bank (on foot or on horseback).
Barge and Boathouse
In 1898 the Hall rented a barge from Salters as a headquarters for the Boat Club. A simple vessel compared with the more ostentatious creations of the richer colleges, she was moored on the north bank of the Isis in Christ Church Meadows, and for forty years Hall rowing men changed and took cold showers there, and launched their boats from her raft.
The Hall Barge, 1898 – 1938 (Hall Magazine 1938)
The barge gave an excellent vantage point from which to watch the last few strokes of tiring crews; so on grand social occasions such as Summer Eights it was fitting for the barge to be gaily decked out:
There had never been a larger attendance at the barge, which was brightly decorated with pots of flowers provided by G H Sharpe as the only contribution to the occasion which his doctor would allow him to make. (Hall Magazine 1919-20)
In 1937 the Hall moved across the river to use the University boathouse which was built in the 1880s but was destroyed by fire in 1999 along with much of OUBC’s records and memorabilia. The Boat Club moved to its own boathouse in 1969.
To mark the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Boat Club, the college generously upgraded the boathouse to the tune of £50,000, the balance provided by the Friends of St Edmund Hall Boat Club. This work concentrated mostly upon the interior layout of the first floor to provide a more convenient training area, but also upon the construction of a shed to house a coaching launch.
Racing
The Hall’s first major success on the Isis was going Head of the River in Torpids in 1939; but it may be said, with more than a little justification, that the Hall came of age (it had been granted full collegiate status in 1957) when it went Head of the River in Summer Eights in 1959.
Carried along on the wave of success of those giants of 1959, perhaps the Hall’s fluvial annus mirabilis came in 1964-65. In Michaelmas Term the Hall 3rd IV won the Second Division of the Coxless Fours easily and the 1st IV set a course record of 6’ 28” to win the Final by beating the Hall’s 2nd IV. Three trialists performed in the Junior Trial Eights and no fewer than nine Hall oarsmen were invited to row for the Blue Boat or Isis.
In Hilary Term, the First Torpid retained its position as Head of the River; three Hall oarsmen rowed in the first ever Isis v Goldie race (which Isis won by seven lengths) and were followed a short while later by the Blue Boat, containing five Hall men, beating Cambridge by four lengths.
During Summer Eights, apart from the 1st VIII retaining the Headship without difficulty, the 2nd VIII entered the First Division and, on the very first day of racing, three Hall crews made overbumps.
At Henley in 1965, the Hall won the Ladies’ Plate, the Visitors’, and had two crew members each in the winning Thames (Isis) and Prince Philip (Leander) cups.
Women’s rowing in turn came of age (women had first entered the Hall in 1979) by going Head of the River for the first time in 2006 and retaining the title for the subsequent three years.
Equipment
Rowing has always been an expensive sport and finance is always a tricky topic to discuss with those who hold the purse strings; as recently as 1956 this note of caution appears:
One has to be very canny in dealing with the SCR as Captain of Boats. For one thing we require money every term, and for another we require more money than all the others put together for a mere handful of enthusiasts. Therefore it behoves us (a) to be very tactful and pleasant to the Senior Treasurer (but firm nevertheless), (b) to be obliging to Captains of other Hall sports and (c) to keep our mouths shut about what we are doing with our money especially when talking in the JCR.
Even in the early days of the Boat Club, costs were high: in the second week of Hilary Term 1872 the following entry appears in the Log Book:
Commissioned Salter to build us a ship. This was absolutely necessary as he has no boat under 10.10 average ... Price £60 (everything complete oars etc.) He is to build her to carry 10.7 at the most. This will not cost the club more than if we hired an eight for four years as Salter charges £15 each season ... The ship ought to last five or six years.
The old clinker eights have long gone as have the shell eights made of cedar and ash. There was a debate about whether a highly varnished bottom had advantages over the Hall’s 1964 boat which had a matt finish, the idea being that a laminar flow of water would be created; physicists may still debate the matter but the Hall went Head of the River in 1964 which, as far as the Boat Club is concerned, is the last word in the argument.
The Friends of St Edmund Hall Boat Club
One in six Aularians rowed during their time at Oxford. Their enthusiasm for the sport continues with the Hall having an active group of Friends dedicated to support Hall rowing. It is an expensive sport - but the rewards are priceless - and the Friends have given financial help, particularly for the provision of equipment and training. However, moral support is just as important: every current Hall rower knows that there is a cadre of former Hall rowers wanting all of our boats to succeed.
The Friends were first formally organised on 14th March 1992. It was recognised that there was a need for a body to advise the College and current Captains of Boats on equipment, general club administration, funding, novice coaching, first eight coaching [and to maintain a] link between the [Boat] Club and the College.
The Friends of the Boat Club have developed a rolling ten-year capital expenditure programme to ensure that the Hall can dispose of the best equipment on (and off) the Isis.
After the celebrations in 2011 to mark the 150th Anniversary of the formation of the Boat Club in 1861, the rank and title of Steward of the St Edmund Hall Boat Club was instituted. This is intended to honour those who have made some signal contribution to the Boat Club, whether financial or in some other way. The role is purely honorary but advice and support from the Stewards is sought from time to time.
In May 2014 the Friends were registered as a charity recognised by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Off With The Gun
Much of the foregoing is contained in Off With The Gun, originally published in 2011 to mark the Boat Club's 150th Anniversary, and subsequently revised. Copies can be obtained via this link:
The cost price is £10 (plus P & P) but £5 of that goes back to the Friends (and therefore to the Boat Club)
Witten by: Darrell Barnes