ERC Grand Re-Opening
Posted on September 9, 2006 | Filed under The club
Re-Opening Speech - Saturday 9th September 2006
Evesham Boat Club was formally established in the summer of 1863, with sixteen active oarsmen and eight non-rowing members. Edward Charles Rudge, the Squire of Evesham, was elected President, and became a lifetime benefactor of the Club. The members included three Reverend gentlemen who took their due place in mid-Victorian Society and in Rowing in particular. The boats and equipment were housed in timber boathouses leased from mine-host at “The Fleece Inn” on the banks of the River Avon and the sport was strictly for “gentlemen” under the rules of the Amateur Rowing Association. The Club grew steadily and was around the thirty-third Provincial Rowing Club to be formed, with local rivals at Tewkesbury, Gloucester and Hereford having been founded several years beforehand and many others that followed. The first Regatta was held in 1864 and was contested between the Clubs from Evesham and Tewkesbury. Transport was developing and the extended railway system gave scope for the movement of boats and oarsmen, transforming the genteel sport to one of fierce competition, using heavy boats rowed over long courses, with fixed seats and rowlocks. (read more…)