1919 – 1939 #

The Great War put a stop to all the undergraduate life of Cambridge. On February 2 1919 a general meeting of the Amalgamation Club set about re¬organizing college sports. There were twelve members only in the boat club, and a crew, made up of Naval officers, rowed in that term’s special fixed-seat races, which were conducted in groups on the American tournament system. In the May term of 1919 it was proposed to re-introduce the old (?) custom of ‘port nights’, but the Captain reckoned this would not improve the crew’s fitness.

In the Michaelmas term of 1919 W. Herten (later Herten-Greaven) was secretary and then in the May term of 1920 Captain; after his death in 1931 his father gave £1000 in his memory, which was set aside so that the interest could be used to help in defraying the cost of sending crews to Henley. It was in 1920 that the present first boat’s badge - the mitre over crossed keys in silver thread - was officially adopted in place of a broad white ribbon (worn on the pocket?). To finish with dress, in the May term of 1921 it is said that progress is being made on the matter of a tie: a plain blue was the colour for the Club as a whole, but the first May tie - royal blue with a repeated diagonal group of three thin silver stripes, the middle one thinner than those on either side - is only described in 1931; probably it was approved some ten years earlier. (It is very like the tie of lst (and 3rd) Trinity, but since club ties became the fashion at about the same time it would not be easy to say which is original.)

We now begin to notice a most favourable turn in the Club’s fortunes. It was largely founded upon the fact that a lot of Petreans took to the oar. It is always the case that when a large number of men are engaged in the same enterprise, good spirits are generated, and there is none of that depression which settles on a club that is unable to fill its boats. There have been times (for example, the Lents of 1961) when Club membership was low, but spirit and success were still maintained. But the price is always to pay when there is a dearth of experienced oarsmen and much of the 1960’s is bleak just because too few rowed. The reason for that will be given in its proper place. To return to Michaelmas of 1923, twenty-five men presented themselves for training and the secretary was no false seer when he predicted a fair future: from 1925 on, the bumping record of the first eight was prodigious, and the characteristic harbinger of this success was the second crew.

In the Lent term of 1925 £90 were collected towards the purchase of an ‘eight’ from Sims. Very detailed accounts are henceforth kept of daily outings, and in general from this time on the Captain’s notes on weekly training, on regattas visited, and on the bumping races are admirably full. On May 30 Steve Fairbairn coached the first crew and the Club for the first time adopted the Jesus style of rowing - short sharp strokes to secure a high rating through the water. This style was from time to time abandoned and resumed. Under the captaincy of W.V. Howells the PBC was third in rank for the Michell Cup, an award for that club whose showing on the Cam has been best over the year in a variety of events.

In the Michaelmas term of 1925 one of the new members was E.C. Westbury, whose ardent support of rowing was especially evident in 1956: in the Lent term he presented a silver cup to be rowed for by senior scullers, and later gave an oar to the ‘Little Rose’ to commemorate the remarkable successes of that year. In the Lent term of 1926 one of the old banners was renovated - a task more recently taken in hand by the Combination Room Butler’s wife, Mrs Moffett. The Club resolved to celebrate the Lents by constructing a bomb, but the Captain deemed it dangerous, and so it was thrust up a chimney in Gisborne court. It was rediscovered in the next term, and, whilst being carried through Old court, it blew up. Of course, the man carrying it was sent down. Also in early 1926 A.R. Miller was chosen to row in the Blue boat, but illness kept him from the actual race. The May term of 1926 saw the first boat making four bumps, the first such rise since the turn of the century. The Club as a whole were second in the Michell Cup rating. Encouraged by this a crew went for the first time to Henley to compete in the Thames Cup; entry was fairly regular until just before the second World War. It is noted that they rowed in a centre-seated craft, and since a side-seated boat was still used for training in 1937 one gathers that the former was something of a novelty.

The first boat moved steadily up through its division in the next couple of years, and was joined, just in time, by a second crew in the Mays of 1928. But in the Michaelmas term of 1927 there was surprise when the centenary was found to be at hand. A dinner and a ball were planned, and, as a more durable measure, an appeal to build a new boat house was publicised. The present house was begun in early 1928 and cost £4000; it was designed by Wheeler, as was the handsome boat house of Trinity Hall. The rowing success of the centenary year was appropriately splendid: in the Lent races three boats made thirteen bumps, and in the May term the Club won the Michell Cup, largely on the strength of twenty-one bumps overall. (It should be pointed out that in the previous years the coaching was excellent; the coaches had come from Selwyn, a club that won the cup regularly.) The Centenary dinner was held on June 9th in the Hall, and the ball on June 13th.

The following year was equally successful and the Michell Cup was retained. The most conspicuous Petrean ever, James Mason, who became a movie star, joined the PBC and in due course was a regular member of the first crew. In the Lent term slides were lengthened to nine inches; now they can be over sixteen. During the May term H. Butterfield is one of those thanked for breakfasting the crew; in Michaelmas of 1955, when he was Master, he was elected President of the Club in recognition of his continued support.

In the Michaelmas term of 1929 T.G. Askwith joined the PBC. When he won the Diamond sculls in 1933 The Observer’s correspondent said he would surely be a’Pothouse Immortal’, and the many Petrean oarsmen he has coached and encouraged will assert the truth of the prophecy. Tom was treasurer in 1930-3 1, and Captain for the following year and part of the next. He was Secretary of the CUBC in 1933. In the Michaelmas term of 1931 he was the first member of the PBC since Lord Kelvin in 1843 to win the Colquhoun sculls. In the Lent term of 1932 he rowed at 3 in the winning Blue boat. This crew, rowing for the Leander Club, won the Grand and so were chosen to represent Great Britain at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Tom also rowed in the Berlin Olympics. On both occasions the national VIII came fourth. Even after his personal success at Henley he continued to row with the PBC; nowadays his active support of the Club’s interests, both on and off the towpath, is an example of that continuity of fellowship which obliterates the years.

In the Michaelmas term of 1930 swivels were placed on the riggers of the first and second boats; and in the Lent term of 1931 sliding seats could be used in all divisions; in that term also coxes were permitted to row in bumping races. The Club’s chief goal was to get the boat into the first division, and in the May term this was achieved (but not maintained). In the Michaelmas term of 1931 B.H.G. Wormald, now Senior Fellow, joined the PBC as a coxswain, and for a couple of years steered the first eight.

A word on regattas. During these years, and indeed until quite recently, the PBC rowed regularly at the Reading Head race, and then took three days to row down the Thames through twenty-one locks to the Tideway to compete in the Head of the River race at Putney. Both events are held after the Lent term. After the May term Marlow was the classic prelude to Henley, and often the second crew competed in the one, leaving the latter to the first crew. In 1931 the PBC reached the semi-finals of the Thames Cup. During the Long Vacation the few oarsmen in residence might visit small regattas, such as Bedford or Norwich, in fours, and success often crowned the effort.

In general the PBC acquitted itself well in the 30’s. In the Lent term of 1934 J.T. Sinclair won the Fairbairn Junior Sculls. But the minute books tell of the difficulties of getting coaches, and in 1937 only eight men came forward to row. The accounts of activities in 1938 and 1939 were not written up; indeed the book itself was missing for about a decade, which is a warning to watch secretaries carefully: they are the custodians of our past.