Short History of the Club
The club was founded in 1867, although there was a history of rowing on the Thames at Reading for many years before that. The Reading Amateur Regatta was first held in 1842. and was an event organised by the town. So it could be argued that the Club has its origins at least 25 years earlier when the regatta was first held. Several other rowing clubs along the Thames were also formed within a few years of the founding of Reading Rowing Club. A few years ago the Club delved back into the record books and put together two lists of the captains and presidents since the foundation, and now two display boards are hung in the boathouse lounge to honour these former officers of the Club.
The minute books and details of the early accounts of the Club going right back the founding of the club are still in existence. From these records there can be no doubt that the Club was very active in the early years, and in spite of there being no motor transport to take boats to and from regattas the Club competed at regattas up and down the Thames throughout the summer months. It seems strange today to think that the Club was inactive in the river through the winter from about the end of September until April the following year; it can only be supposed that members thought it to be too cold or dangerous to row in the winter!
The Club's greatest achievements to date were in the 1930s when crews reached the final of the Thames Cup and won the Wyfold Fours at Henley Royal Regatta in 1934 and 1935, and in 1938 Len Habbitts, a member of one of the winning Wyfold Fours crews reached the final of the Diamond Sculls. These achievements were made before the club became active on the river through the winter. Winter rowing only became the norm after the second world war.
The present boathouse is one of several that the club has occupied, but it is certainly the most impressive, and the largest. From about 1900 until the middle 1960s the club occupied a boathouse on Fry's Island. The building is still in existence and is now occupied by a company which hires out cruisers. The next boathouse was underneath and behind part of the old Caversham Bridge hotel which was on the site of the present Crown Plaza Hotel. The boathouses on the island and at the hotel were very spartan and had no facilities for social events as we have today. In the 1980s a small wooden clubhouse was built beside the hotel boathouse. This was the first time the Club had hot showers, and this was the start of the social life of the Club as we know it today.
The current boathouse was completed and occupied in 1989. It took an incredible three years to build during which time the club had various temporary homes in an old works yard, at Reading Town Regatta Club boathouse (destroyed by fire in May 1996) and at Reading University boathouse (Also destroyed by fire about 1991). The boathouse is owned by Reading Borough Council and initially was on a 21 year lease, however, by 2008 the club was growing and needed extending and upgrading facilities for the mix of membership and provide better indoor training space. At the same time the club arrangement with the Council moved to a 99 year lease signed on 13 October 2010 based on a peppercorn rent but requiring the club to assume responsibility for the majority of the upkeep and maintenance. The future of the club is secure for this century.
A record from the Club Minute Book dated 25 April 1867.
Honour boards in the club list both the Club Presidents and Club Captains throughout its existence.
