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Henley Bridge, 6.50am, Tuesday, 27 June – on the way to an early training row.
28 June 2017
Tim Koch goes upriver:
There are rumours on the rowing circuit that, starting today, 28 June, there will be a five-day rowing regatta in a town called Henley-on-Thames, 23 miles southeast of Oxford. It sounds interesting, and I think I will go along and see if it is any good. I was there on Monday, 26 June, having just finished my club’s annual three-day-row from Hammersmith to Henley, something I wrote about in 2010. Below are some early morning pictures that I took to prove that the stories about a big regatta happening were true. There is also the evidence of a draw on the Henley Royal Regatta website.
Tuesday, 7am. This is the quietist that this spot is going to be in daylight for the next six days. On the right is the pink of Leander Club, to the left of that are the competitors’ boat tents, and to the left again is the race finishSome local residents fail to show proper respect for the Leander pontoon.Crew 212, Vesper BC & Princeton NRA, USA, entered in the Women’s Fours, have their first outing of the day.An Ohio State coach shows Yankee ingenuity in blade carrying.Changes. Tamesis looks down from Henley Bridge, built 1786. Many women at Henley Royal Regatta have taken on a different role since Joseph Ashby-Sterry wrote ‘Henley Bridge in July’ in 1886: And O, what dainty maids you spy, What tasteful toilets you descry, What symphonies in frills and lace, On Henley Bridge!
Henley’s Twitter account, @HenleyRegatta, has been posting some nice pictures over the last few weeks (naturally, HTBS likes the historical ones the most):
Henley from above.The Henley Draw at the Town Hall on 24 June.The Draw is made from the Grand Challenge Cup.In 1936, Zurich RC won The Diamond Sculls, The Stewards’ & The Grand Challenge Cups.LHF Gunther of Holland racing Joe Wright from Argonaut RC Canada in the Diamonds in 1929.1981, the first women’s race at Henley Royal. The 1980 Rowing Club, USA, beat Adanac Boat Club, Canada, verdict ‘easily’.Thirty-six years on from the first women’s race at HRR, Henley Steward, Richard Phelps, tweeted this picture on @richardphelpsie. It shows Henley’s seven female Stewards (sadly, now without the late Dame Di Ellis). L to R: Sarah Winckless, Fiona Dennis, Katherine Grainger, Miriam Luke, Annamarie Phelps, Guin Batten, Ann Redgrave.The weather forecast for Henley Week is rain, and lots of it.
Hear The Boat Sing 
Very witty.