Maidenhead Rowing Club History

The present club was established in 1876 and the original building - constructed of timber with corrugated roof - was still in use until 1998 being used as the club bar and men's changing room.  The original building can been seen on the right hand side in this water colour painted by club Member Derek Cook.

No history of the club would be complete without mention of Jack Arnold, who joined as a coxswain in 1899, was a successful oarsman between 1903 and 1920 and held almost every office, being President from 1954 until 1962. After the club recorded its first Henley success in 1924 he considered that the club should be better housed and through his leadership the club raised £2,000 to provide an extension to the  premises at Maidenhead Bridge which were opened in 1926.  This extension can be clearly seen in the above picture.

It was not until 1939 that another Henley win was recorded, Maidenhead entered the Wyfolds and went on to win the final against Tigre Boat Club, Argentina. This was a most popular win as most of the events at Henley that year were won by overseas competitors. Aubrey Lion was a member of this winning crew and he went on to become President of the Club in 1977, an office he held until 1989.

Bert Bushnell and Richard Burnell won the Double Sculls at the Olympic Regatta at Henley in 1948. Richard Burnell has continued his association with the club. In 1962 he was elected President of the Club, an office he held until 1967.

In more recent years the club has continued to maintain and improve on successes attained in earlier years. In the late 1970s the club rules were changed to include women and they now constitute a formidable proportion of the membership. Also in the 1970's the Club recruited an influx of junior members from several local schools and achieved much success at club, national and international levels.

Further victories at Henley Royal Regatta were recorded in 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1994, and Maidenhead maintains its record as the most successful up-river club at Henley Royal Regatta with the exception of Oxford University and Leander. Over the last three decades the popularity of the sport has multiplied and today the number of members including active rowers and juniors is about 280, and the potential is clearly much greater.

It was another Henley win, The Britannia Cup, in 1985 that prompted the search for a new larger boathouse.  After many years of fundraising and tough negotiations the present building, across the river from the original, was finally opened by Steve Redgrave in June of 1998. The new boathouse was built with the help of a National Lottery Sports Council grant and offers facilities that will enable the club to offer rowing to all.