Maidenhead Rowing Club

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The New Boathouse

Thursday, 12 June 2008

The New MRC Boathouse
June 1998 saw the opening of the present Maidenhead Rowing Club Building, the culmination of many years hard work fundraising and negotiating the building location. We now have what we believe to be one of the best boathouses in the country and as far as we know the only one with a lift to provide full access to the facilities for disabled rowers.

Maidenhead Rowing Club had been rowing from their former site for approximately 160 years. The evolution of the old clubhouse can be seen by looking at the buildings that were in use until 1998.

The original building is the corrugated iron shed which was the men’s changing room with the bar facilities above. In the 1920’s after our success at Henley Royal Regatta the clubhouse was extended. This was well documented in the local press as being a superb facility for the Town. It served us well for over seventy years but time has overtaken us and we were bursting at the seams, we got to the point where boats were stored in the men's changing rooms.

The Old MRC Boathouse
The sport of rowing, like all other sports, has advanced considerably and what were considered adequate facilities in the 20’s are now totally inadequate. The success of the Club has seen its membership grow considerably as rowing now caters for the entire age range of the population.

One of the reasons why the membership has grown is that some 20 years ago Maidenhead was one of the first clubs in the country to welcome women to the sport of rowing. This was one of the finest moves the club ever made and women members now form as essential part of the club’s activities both on the river and in the running of the club.

For 10 years we endeavoured to find a suitable site and to design a building that will cater for the club’s present and future needs. One of the briefs we gave our Architect was that we wanted a building of which we would all be proud coupled with one that would adequately serve our purpose. We are pleased that this objective has been achieved in the new boathouse. This is a building of which can all be proud and one that enhances our Town’s riverside.

Building of the new Maidenhead Rowing Club has been achieved with the assistance of a Sport England grant from the National Lottery and other local sponsors. The The contract was awarded to John Mowlem plc and the new building was fully operational by the end of June 1998.

The new building was opened in June 1998 by Steve Redgrave, a former member of the club, since then we have seen an explosive growth in membership as the new building is seen as a flagship sports facility for the town of Maidenhead and the surrounding areas in Berkshire and South Bucks.