Rowing Against the Tide - A career in sport and politics (12 page)

After the Athens Olympics, the Special Congress was held just outside Dubrovnik in February of 2005. My friend Douglas Calder who had a home in the Cayman Islands, had some years earlier signed himself up as the Islands FISA delegate, and also somehow got himself registered as it’s IOC member. He asked whether Sally and I might be going, but since I had retired from the Association’s Presidency I said we wouldn’t be attending. He promptly suggested that Sally and I joined him and his wife Debbie, and that I could be registered as a second Cayman Island delegate, which was sure to raise a few eyebrows, and perhaps a degree of consternation on the top table ! I agreed, and Douglas and I delayed our entry into the Congress Hall until the last moment, just to make a grand entry. In fairness, Douglas had been a great help at previous congresses, for being a lawyer was useful in ensuring that the text of any proposal at Congress was clear and unequivocal in interpretation.

In short, whilst it is right and proper that the plaudits go to our athletes who since 1984 have brought home Gold at every event since then, plus fistfuls of other medals both at Olympics, World, Under 23s, Junior and University Championships , for us lesser mortals there is great satisfaction in being associated with a great sport, and more than content to contribute in many othe
r ways than just on the water.

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Chapter 6

A HOLME PIERREPONT STORY

For some years from the late fifties and through the sixties, the Nottingham Rowing Clubs were looking for an alternative to the traditional regatta course which had run down-stream from the old Toll Bridge, round a fierce and unfair bend, to Trent Bridge. We tried a straight course from the Suspension Bridge, along the Victoria Embankment, to the Lady Bay Bridge, and also the reverse back upstream over that same course. Nothing really worked, though we managed, and the Regatta was always popular. Many of the trophies were outstanding examples of the 1800s, and the Gold Vase for fours became almost uninsurable. The Vase and the Turney Trophy, the latter an enormous and elaborate punch bowl, whilst still in the ownership of the Nottingham and Union R.C. are on permanent loan to the City and are on public display at the Council House. We have taken much the same security approach with the rest of the trophies, which are the property of the original Nottingham Rowing Club, now registered as NRC (1862) to distinguish it from the newcomers NRC(2007) who were once the Boat and Britannia Clubs. These are now on public display at County Hall along with NIR trophies held in trust by British Rowing. Both local Authorities insure the trophies under their Civic Silver insurances, and so are a good deal for the club, and British Rowing.

There was quite some publicity at the possibility that the Water Authority at that time, might consider dredging the straight stretch of water upstream of the Clifton Bridge, which would meet the sports needs, but the cost was prohibitive.

However back in 1968 I was fortunate to be elected to the Nottingham City Council, and at that time the City were developing the Colwick Park and Marina on the north bank of the Trent. I arranged to see the Chief Estates Officer, Mr Ned Evans, and we looked at the two planned sections of water in the park, which were to be separated by a narrow bund. I had hoped that the bund could be removed, and we’d be able to have at least a 1200m straight course on which to hold our regattas. Technically this became impossible because of the fall of the land for access for boats to the planned marina, and providing the second lake for general public recreation. This fall of course is why many find it difficult to believe that the course at Holme Pierrepont is nine feet higher at the boathouses, than at the start. So it is not only racing the 2000metres that makes it feel uphill !

Mr Evans however was good enough to recommend, and set up a meeting for me with his counterpart in the County Council. The Senior Officer there, Jack Long, was more than helpful and we looked at the then current and planned gravel workings. By happy coincidence Hoveringham Gravel had almost worked out the area of Holme Pierrepont, and were faced with the cost of a degree of restoration under the then planning conditions, plus their desire for further consents downstream in that area. I was asked what we needed, and not being greedy, stated that we just wanted a hole in the ground, about 2300 meters long, and the ability to set up temporary facilities so that a regatta could be held. He laughed and said he knew exactly what we needed, for he had been an officer in the Lea Valley, and was aware of the protracted debate that had gone on for years over the possibility of a course there.

A basic scheme was put together, and the then Conservative Leader of the Council, Cllr Mrs Anne Yates, not only gave approval, but enthusiastically began chasing funding for the project. Our biggest problem was with some of the then establishment at the ARA, for sadly some of the “elders” were less than enthusiastic about the possibility of a modern multi-lane course, and one in particular, the Chairman of Stewards John Garton, felt it would be the end of Henley Royal Regatta. It seems absurd now, but there had been schemes in the past that had just been kicked into the long grass, and few realised why there had been so little enthusiasm for a modern six lane course. At that time we were the only country in Europe apart from Bulgaria, without a six lane course, and only a very few ever had the chance to gain experience of multilane racing. Whilst granted that some were on lakes, Germany had fifteen at that time, and on top of all their other “advantages” that lack of experience goes a long way in explaining why so few medals came our way after the 1948 Olympics over the Henley Reach. All that changed rapidly in the years following the opening of the course.

The Desolation 1969

The County Council put together a brochure and invited officers of the ARA to come to Nottingham for a presentation. They duly attended, and with funding coming from the Countryside Commission, Derelict Land Grant, Hoveringham Gravel – it was easy to twist their arm – John Players, and others, it was then put before the National Council. The debate in Council was fraught to say the least, for the Lea Valley supporters argued that if there was to be a course, then it had to be in London ! It was typical of attitudes at that time, and the fact of Holme Pierrepont being in the centre of England, and was therefore reasonably accessible to everyone was conveniently dismissed. However the reality was that the Nottingham project could proceed almost at once, and with a single and willing Authority to deal with, completion on time and on budget, was assured. The Lea project was based on the timescale of gravel extraction, with many local authorities involved. When Council was faced with a Course now, against a Course in perhaps, and it was a big perhaps, ten years time, it ought to have been a no-brainer. When put to the vote however, Holme Pierrepont won by just a single vote, and only on the basis that it would have priority over the Lea in terms of timing. It is significant that twenty years later, Jeffrey Page wrote to me and said, that he had been wrong to have opposed at that time, and the decision taken then was right for British Rowing. It was a generous admission, and gave me a lot of pleasure to have received.

A committee was formed with Chris Davidge as Chairman, and officers of the Association, John Garton ( with great reluctance ), Freddie Page, Neil Thomas, Bill Clarke, Nick Nicholson and myself. Chris was FISA’s technical director, and the specification was the then grade A, and the same specification as laid down for the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Apart from the Olympic grandstand, the Munich course cost between eight and nine million, whereas the Holme Pierrepont project was put together for 1.2 million, true value for money. We were lucky for at that time the construction industry was in recession and all the big boys fought over the tender to dig the course out. John Player paid for the finish tower, but political correctness decreed in time that their plaque should be removed, because attitudes to smoking had changed.

Much of the work was done in the winter, and conditions were a bit muddy. I used to visit to see progress most days, and on one occasion, my wife Sally and I drove down and entered the construction yard somewhere near where the new extension to the main building is now. We progressed slowly round the rough road where the slalom is now, and ran out of track when we turned to come down the south side. We halted faced with just a rough and somewhat muddy terrain, and were about to try to turn when a driver of one of the giant diggers, one which had an enormous central bucket and scraper, was having his snap (lunch) high up in the monster’s cabin. He looked down, took pity on us and offered to see us back to the exit. He set himself up in front of us, dropped the great bucket/scraper, and proceeded slowly to the exit, flattening the rough soil making a useable road for us. He left us with a smile and a wave, and it is the only time I can say, a road had been made just for us !

Progress was swift, and we were able to have a trial run in 1971, with National Championships in 72 and formal opening by the Prime Minister Ted Heath in 73. Those early years were eye openers to say the least, and many, particularly novice and junior crews, were often overawed by the sheer size of the lake. For many, just looking back down the course from the start was most unsettling, and some of the early steering left umpires with much to do, for they too were learning a whole new approach to our sport. On one occasion a female cox burst into tears, having first tried to attach to lane 6, with No 1 in her bow slot, and then just could not attach. Chris Davidge was on duty with me at the time, and being a real gentleman, suggested I let her crew row, after all, the cox was just a little girl. No offense intended !

I umpired the coxed fours final at that first Championship, and with less than twenty or thirty yards to go to the finish, the Bedford crew, having been warned, clashed with the Thames RC crew who were clearly in the bronze medal position. Raising the white flag, I stopped the Bedford crew, and although a crew some way back crossed the line in third place, under the rules at that time, I awarded the medal to Thames. There was some consternation from both the disappointed fourth crew, and spectators, who had never seen that aspect of the rules before. After the race, Chris Davidge took me to one side, and said that what I had done was correct under ARA rules, but as I would be officiating at the championships in Copenhagen a few weeks later, I should know that FISA had by then changed the rules so that umpires could no longer decide the order of finish. It was just as well I knew, for I had the final of the single sculls, and whilst the winner was clear, the USA sculler was drifting into the lane of the local Danish favourite in the Silver Medal slot, and having been warned, I prayed he wouldn’t touch the Dane, for a re-row whilst required under the rules, would have been most unfair. All was well and the Dane and the Yank, respectively got their Silver and Bronze medals.

One of our biggest problems arose from the structure of management of the facility, which was transferred by the County Council, as owners of the site, to the Sports Council, whose staffing arrangements employed people Monday to Friday with the weekends being overtime ! To compound that absurdity, they appointed Stan Dibley, known to all as Officer Dibbles, as manager. Whatever had been his background, it was a case of buggins’ turn in spades, for his knowledge of our sport was minimal, and on one occasion we had to get him out of bed to open the gates to let crews enter the boat park.

We applied for a date for Nottingham International Regatta, feeling that the weekend before Henley Royal would make the trip for foreign crews, and particularly those from the USA and Canada, economic sense, with the likely knock on effect of increasing the overseas entry at the Royal. Once again certain members of the establishment were opposed, and I was absurdly accused of trying to wreck the Royal. At the FISA meeting in Denmark, our date was finally agreed, and as a result, the chairman of Stewards, John Garton who opposed our application, even suggested that he would increase the Henley course to three or four lanes, in order to both thwart our plans, and make the Royal even more attractive. It seems absurd now, but the facts are that from that time on, during the few years the Nottingham International was run, overseas entries for the Royal increased, and two of the Stewards, Angus Robertson and Hart Perry, had the foresight to market the two regattas in a package that offered two days racing in Nottingham, followed by racing at Henley for as many rounds as their standard and the draw would allow. There was a general feeling that NIR and the Royal should work together to make the most of the Robertson - Hart Perry package, but such was the antagonism from the top, the suggestion that we could arrange boat loans to cover both regattas, was only agreed providing I wasn’t the appointed liaison contact.