A 50th Anniversary Reunion

On 19 April, 50 years and 1 day after a marathon sponsored row from Northampton to Peterborough, 12 current and former club members who took part in the row gathered for a reunion.

The marathon row on 18 April 1976 was a major fundraising effort and a mighty achievement by the eight rowers and a cox who took the eight 60 miles and through 35 locks. They had a target of 10.5 hours and beat this time by 19 minutes.

The crew was supported on land by three lock parties which leapfrogged each other so that one party was always ahead of the crew and had the lock gates open ready for their arrival. Apart from the effort of the rowers, it was great feat of organisation.

The marathon row was sponsored by British Sugar, which at the time had a sugar beet factory in Peterborough. The row raised sufficient money to purchase a new coaching launch and outboard at a time when the club had quite limited funds.

The reunion proved very enjoyable and for some, who had not seen each for many years, it was a time to catch up with old friends. However, there was no enthusiasm to replicate the marathon row or even get in a boat bearing in mind that they are all now well into their 70’s and most have various ailments that come with age!

Those who had not been to the club recently were very impressed by the new extension to the clubhouse and the general level of facilities for club members, which is so far advanced on those in 1976. PCRC has come a long way in the last 50 years!

Photo here Left to right-

Paul Child (lock party)

Julia Hurford (lock party)

Neville Walker (lock party)

Angus Hurford (lock party)

Steve Hircock (crew)

Ray White (crew)

Steve Brown (cox)

Adrian Corbett (lock party)

Trevor Parke (crew)