Martin Hook Cl (51-61) The first King's crew at Henley 1961
'Don't come into the bar like that!'. Thus, in her ponderous drawl, one of the two fearsome ladies who ran 'The Two Brewers' pub in Henley on Thames addressed an errant crew member who, lost in the labyrinth that was our home for the week, had stumbled upon the good lady's sancto sanctorum one evening in his pyjamas.
It was July 1961 and we were the first ever King's School, Worcester crew to appear at Henley Royal Regatta, being entered for the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. Our coach, Dick Knight, had procured excellent accommodation for us only a short walk from the regatta enclosures, this advantage not being fully appreciated by me until thinking about it years later. This enabled us to concentrate totally on training, racing and, as the Worcester Evening News told the world, our school books, as several of us had 'A' levels soon to follow.
My boy's eye view of the progress towards Henley saw the start of preparations as the winning of the Junior Eights at Marlow the previous year - 'I could balance a cup of tea on that cox's seat', the umpire had told the passengers in his launch. Dick had four of that crew plus cox for this year which he began by putting us through the rigours of head training, lock to lock with other crews being picked up, overtaken and left behind at various stages down to Diglis. We had never attempted this before, except for an experimental outing sometime before Marlow and this distance training paid dividends in the regatta season.
We left Worcester the previous Saturday to race at Richmond from where we went on to 'The Two Brewers' for the duration of Henley Week. In the following days we became used to the living arrangements and routine, training several times each day and learning the details of the course. As an experienced crew we were used to the regatta atmosphere both at water level and on the bank but the Henley ambience was much more exciting. Famous national and international personages and crews were around, the best boats and equipment were to be seen, the white painted piles and booms lining the course added to the feeling of being part of something special and the society scene in which we were but gladiators was a curiosity. We were once a little deflated when a passing pink-socked old buffer described our recently acquired boat as 'a heavy old three-piece'! To make up for that, with our CCF skills we cleaned and polished our double-action slides and anything else that moved and also the boat's underside, which had been varnished on a windy day at the boathouse and was a little sandpapery with the dust that had been blowing around.
Our first race was on Wednesday morning against Canford School, winning by 2/3 length in 7 mins 26 secs coming through from behind. Thursday morning's race was against Magdalen College School who were on a by, again winning from behind by 1/2 length in 7 mins 18 secs. Friday was the quarter final against Nautical College Pangbourne who had previously beaten Monkton Combe School and Beaumont College (on a by). From having had morning races in comparative quiet from the bank and enclosures, this race was in the middle of the afternoon of a gloriously sunny day and the difference was dramatic as the roar of the crowd rolled over us. We were soon down but our head training began to pay off as we gradually gained on Pangbourne, only to run out of course, losing by a canvas in 7 mins 20 secs. Pangbourne, who were 5 pounds a man heavier than our 11st 8pounds, were beaten in the Saturday's semi-final by Shrewsbury School - the holders - by 1 3/4 lengths in 7 mins 25 secs and in turn a stone heavier per man. Shrewsbury won the event later in the day. I believe that Pangbourne won the event three years later.
Captain of Boats, Tony Stephens, had told the Worcester Evening News reporter the previous week that our hope was to "row well, not let our coach down and give our opponents a real race" as we had not expected to get further than the first heat. I still look back on that event with pride knowing that we rowed better than well, we certainly did not let down either Dick Knight or the School and we gave several other crews races that they would not quickly forget.
The crew
Bow R H F Metcalfe
2 A R Stevens (capt)
3 M S Furniss
4 N J Morrison
5 A P F Jackson
6 C B Hancock
7 M E R Hook
Stroke P N Martin
Cox M J Derry
Coach Mr R D Knight
Personal thoughts: Only while continuing my rowing career at small university and town rowing clubs sporadically over the next fourteen years did I realise the advantages that I had been given by rowing at King's. I could step into other boats and immediately fit in with their crews having been taught to follow Stroke rather than being 'the only one in step' because it was what we did in my last club! We rarely went out without being followed by a launch with a coach watching our every move, rather than being coached either from within the boat or from an accompanying scull. For this I thank the members of staff who used their own time to coach us. We could concentrate totally on our own rowing instead of having to miss an outing in order to coach others, who may never be seen again. Because of the discipline and punishment regime of the day during our junior years we always had a full crew that turned up on time - no going out in an eight with one of the seats tied up. The juxtaposition of the school, the boathouse and the river combined with the lock length and width of the River Severn at Worcester provided an excellent training stretch. With that background we had no excuse for not giving the opposing crew 'a real race'. Perhaps, also, some of our success can be laid at the door of Charlie the Cook for our school dinners, but that is a story for another day!
Martin (Sus) Hook Chappel 1951-61
(2011)