By Matthew Ridgwell, originally written for the SHIP
Dan Topolski’s eyebrows arched in wry amusement. Standing before him I had the distinct impression that he associated St Anne’s more with late-night wall-scaling in the 1960s than anything else and certainly not as a source of rowers. Quite possibly he wasn’t even sure that he had heard himself correctly. Undaunted, I carefully repeated the name of my college along with my intention to trial for OUBC. He smiled and with his customary good charm pointed me in the direction of the group of towering oarsmen assembled by the riverbank. It was a glorious autumn day in 1985 and OUBC, with Dan as head coach, was riding high on the wave of a record-breaking ten successive victories in the Boat Race.
Dan’s attitude at the time more reflected the reality of men’s rowing in the former women’s colleges than anything else. St Anne’s had been co-educational for just six years and a rapid influx of male undergraduates had led to a balance between the genders by the early 1980s. The rowing facilities, such as they were, for both the women’s and men’s boats consisted of a rack or two in St John’s boathouse plus a couple of decaying eights, one of which was clinker-built, resting on trestles outside. Len Andrews, the St John’s boatman and a last of his kind type of figure, would kindly patch up our fourth-hand boats with third-hand parts in return for a smile and a bottle of whisky at the end of the season.
In 1979 the men`s eight had started at the very bottom of both Torpids and Eights. By 1985, the first eight had managed to climb up into the fifth and sixth divisions respectively. It did not take us long to realise that under the arcane rules of both events it would take at least a decade before the men`s eight had any chance of reaching the frontier of rowing respectability, which seemed to lie somewhere around the middle of the second division. This was well beyond the horizon of the most lingering of graduate students.
It was blindingly obvious that a college boathouse was desperately needed. What was far from clear was how one could be built. There was limitless enthusiasm and plenty of rowers of every shape and size, but precious little else. Into this picture strode the formidable presence of Claire Palley, the newly-appointed Principal of St Anne’s. A distinguished South African lawyer, she held the then radical view that sport was an integral part of college life. Unusually, and possibly uniquely, for the head of an Oxbridge college, she is also the mother of five sons.
By the spring of 1985, just six months after taking up her appointment, Dr Palley had obtained a generous undertaking from Peter de Savary, a high-profile businessman who had led the British America’s Cup entry in 1983, to donate the staggering sum of 50,000 pounds towards the construction of a boat house. The only catch was that the undergraduates would have to raise 25,000 pounds in order to obtain Peter de Savary´s signature on his cheque. The challenge was on and an event of some kind was the obvious solution. However, sponsored rows were two a penny and usually raised only a few hundred pounds.
This time we would have to do something different. So an event with a twist was concocted, where for the first time a women`s and men`s eight from a college would race each other across the 50 miles and 17 locks that lie between Oxford and Henley. Bill Ireland and Steve Brooking did a recce trip in a launch, identifying suitable landing places along the route. We had two crews for each boat and the women`s eight were given a couple of hours head start.
The eights were named Speight and Rampant, both serviceable, but well past their prime and running repairs were needed in Reading. Bill’s sister Helen provided medical support, notably when Anna Williams trapped her fingers, but all in all the day passed off remarkably smoothly and there was a great sense of fun, as well as purpose. The highlight at the finish on the Henley stretch was a race with Peter de Savary coxing the women’s eight resplendent in his America’s Cup shirt (see photo). The 25,000 pounds was duly raised and the boat house project suddenly took real shape. Around this time, it was noticed that there was a piece of land hidden by a few trees and waiting almost demurely just after the arched pedestrian bridge.
At the same time, the St Anne´s women`s eight faced increasing competition from crews of the former men`s colleges, which were backed by strong rowing traditions and had access to well-equipped boathouses. To make matters worse, the growing popularity of rowing meant that indoor storage was increasingly scarce and St Anne’s could not be even sure of retaining its rack space at St John’s
Construction of the boathouse would have to wait until after we had all graduated due to the time needed for agreeing on sharing arrangements with other colleges, obtaining more funding and building permits. In the meantime the men`s eight seldom made it through the Gut as it usually bumped crews beforehand.
Rowing at St Anne’s owes a great debt, seemingly unrecognised, to Claire Palley for her initiative, determination and support. The boathouse was built on the last available plot down by the Isis and, at a distance of twenty-eight years, it is a great pleasure to see the men`s eight now firmly in the zone of respectability for both Torpids and Eights.
Dan’s attitude at the time more reflected the reality of men’s rowing in the former women’s colleges than anything else. St Anne’s had been co-educational for just six years and a rapid influx of male undergraduates had led to a balance between the genders by the early 1980s. The rowing facilities, such as they were, for both the women’s and men’s boats consisted of a rack or two in St John’s boathouse plus a couple of decaying eights, one of which was clinker-built, resting on trestles outside. Len Andrews, the St John’s boatman and a last of his kind type of figure, would kindly patch up our fourth-hand boats with third-hand parts in return for a smile and a bottle of whisky at the end of the season.
In 1979 the men`s eight had started at the very bottom of both Torpids and Eights. By 1985, the first eight had managed to climb up into the fifth and sixth divisions respectively. It did not take us long to realise that under the arcane rules of both events it would take at least a decade before the men`s eight had any chance of reaching the frontier of rowing respectability, which seemed to lie somewhere around the middle of the second division. This was well beyond the horizon of the most lingering of graduate students.
It was blindingly obvious that a college boathouse was desperately needed. What was far from clear was how one could be built. There was limitless enthusiasm and plenty of rowers of every shape and size, but precious little else. Into this picture strode the formidable presence of Claire Palley, the newly-appointed Principal of St Anne’s. A distinguished South African lawyer, she held the then radical view that sport was an integral part of college life. Unusually, and possibly uniquely, for the head of an Oxbridge college, she is also the mother of five sons.
By the spring of 1985, just six months after taking up her appointment, Dr Palley had obtained a generous undertaking from Peter de Savary, a high-profile businessman who had led the British America’s Cup entry in 1983, to donate the staggering sum of 50,000 pounds towards the construction of a boat house. The only catch was that the undergraduates would have to raise 25,000 pounds in order to obtain Peter de Savary´s signature on his cheque. The challenge was on and an event of some kind was the obvious solution. However, sponsored rows were two a penny and usually raised only a few hundred pounds.
This time we would have to do something different. So an event with a twist was concocted, where for the first time a women`s and men`s eight from a college would race each other across the 50 miles and 17 locks that lie between Oxford and Henley. Bill Ireland and Steve Brooking did a recce trip in a launch, identifying suitable landing places along the route. We had two crews for each boat and the women`s eight were given a couple of hours head start.
The eights were named Speight and Rampant, both serviceable, but well past their prime and running repairs were needed in Reading. Bill’s sister Helen provided medical support, notably when Anna Williams trapped her fingers, but all in all the day passed off remarkably smoothly and there was a great sense of fun, as well as purpose. The highlight at the finish on the Henley stretch was a race with Peter de Savary coxing the women’s eight resplendent in his America’s Cup shirt (see photo). The 25,000 pounds was duly raised and the boat house project suddenly took real shape. Around this time, it was noticed that there was a piece of land hidden by a few trees and waiting almost demurely just after the arched pedestrian bridge.
At the same time, the St Anne´s women`s eight faced increasing competition from crews of the former men`s colleges, which were backed by strong rowing traditions and had access to well-equipped boathouses. To make matters worse, the growing popularity of rowing meant that indoor storage was increasingly scarce and St Anne’s could not be even sure of retaining its rack space at St John’s
Construction of the boathouse would have to wait until after we had all graduated due to the time needed for agreeing on sharing arrangements with other colleges, obtaining more funding and building permits. In the meantime the men`s eight seldom made it through the Gut as it usually bumped crews beforehand.
Rowing at St Anne’s owes a great debt, seemingly unrecognised, to Claire Palley for her initiative, determination and support. The boathouse was built on the last available plot down by the Isis and, at a distance of twenty-eight years, it is a great pleasure to see the men`s eight now firmly in the zone of respectability for both Torpids and Eights.