This website covers all aspects of the rich history of rowing, as a sport, culture phenomena, a life style, and a necessary element to keep your wit and stay sane.
If you wish to amuse young people, tell them about the days before digital photography. They may not realise that there was a time when you could not take pictures with your phone, not least because it was at home, attached to the wall by a cable. No, if you wanted to take photographs, you put light sensitive paper into a camera, carefully rationed the twenty-four shots it gave you, took the exposed film to a pharmacist who sent it away to a lab to be soaked in chemicals and you received your prints about a week later. Taking a photo of your lunch, having hundreds of copies made and sending each one in a letter to your friends was not a popular pastime. Digital photography has changed all this of course, though the result is that most of us take too many pictures. I shot several hundred over the course of Henley Royal Regatta and about one hundred were included in my various posts. However, at the end of the Regatta, I always find that I have many images that I like but which were not included in my reports. Here are some of them, I hope that you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.
In training.Oxford University Women’s Boat Club and Reading Rowing Club.Symmetry.D-r-a-wSmoke on the water.The first part of the Henley starting procedure is for the umpire to say: ’When I see that you are straight and ready, I shall start you like this. Attention. Row. Get ready, please’. Legend has it that umpires are reprimanded if they say ‘I will start you…..’ This is because, as we all know, in strict British grammar, ‘will’ should only be used with second and third person pronouns and that ‘shall’ is the correct verb to talk about the future when using first person pronouns. Tom Weil, the HTBS grammertarian, may wish to confirm this.Photographer Hamish Roots. Some great examples of his work, rowing and otherwise, are on his website, lightoverwater.co.uk The site also tells the story behind his ‘Royal Zambezi Sculling Club’ blazer and it shows some of Hamish’s wonderful pictures of sculling on the fourth-longest river in Africa.The legendary Donald Legget, who has been involved with Cambridge coaching since 1968. He gets upset if his name is misspelled: ‘It’s two gins and one tonic!’The distinctive blazers of Lausanne-Sports Aviron from Switzerland. The cafés of Lausanne may be missing many of their tablecloths.Fine examples of the inherited blazers so beloved of Dutch students.These splendid gentlemen are my two favourite spectators.A very civilised way to view the racing – 1.A very civilised way to view the racing – 2.A very civilised way to view the racing – 3.Chris Dodd (centre) and friends study form.Champagne fills the air on the Leander pontoon for the winners of the Princess Grace.Walking in the air for one of the winners of the Fawley.Strong arm tactics by the Princeton Training Center.Molesey wonder what the Thames Cup will fetch on eBay.The trophy for the Ladies’ Plate is not a plate and is not for ladies.Double Sculls. Obreno, winner of the Diamonds, and Scheenard, winner of the Princess Royal.British Rowing’s Coach of the Year, Richard Spratley, Director of Rowing at Oxford Brookes (second from left), with three of his ex-rowers, now coaches of winning Henley crews themselves. On the left is Alex Henshilwood whose Eton crew won the Princess Elizabeth, second from the right is Henry Bailhache-Webb whose Brookes crew won the Temple and on the right is Ben Lewis whose Thames RC crew won the Visitors’ this year and the Thames Cup last year.Windsor Boys stoically contemplate their defeat in the final of the Fawley.The prize-giving over, that’s it for another year…
The purported “HTBS grammertarian” (a) is a slavish devotee of the writings and photographs of Tim Koch, (b) over the course of thirty years of drafting and editing contracts has used “will” and “shall” as his desire to engage in pedantry moved him, without any insight as to proper usage, and (c) would prefer “grammartarian” to “grammertarian” on his epitaph.
Having been in this sport for 21 years over a span of 50 and never having been to Henley, I viewed the photos with sheer delight and interest as well chuckled at the epigrams. Bravo, Bravo
Dave Kacala
Undine Barge Club
Philadelphia
Hear The Boat Sing 
The purported “HTBS grammertarian” (a) is a slavish devotee of the writings and photographs of Tim Koch, (b) over the course of thirty years of drafting and editing contracts has used “will” and “shall” as his desire to engage in pedantry moved him, without any insight as to proper usage, and (c) would prefer “grammartarian” to “grammertarian” on his epitaph.
Tom, before we write your epitaph, we will have to be sure that you are not just in a comma.
Great photos Tim! 🙂
Great pictures!!!
Having been in this sport for 21 years over a span of 50 and never having been to Henley, I viewed the photos with sheer delight and interest as well chuckled at the epigrams. Bravo, Bravo
Dave Kacala
Undine Barge Club
Philadelphia