1957 – 1978 #

The next twenty years can only be glanced at. The difficulties in which the PBC found itself were not irremediable. The officers in May of 1959, for example, looked proudly upon the consolidation of some fifty oarsmen after a Michaelmas that saw only eleven members and no freshmen. Their policy paid off in the bumps of 1960, and decline was arrested. In the Lent term of 1963 the ice was six inches thick on the Long Reach. Larger clubs therefore trained at Earith or St. Neots during the six weeks of the hard freeze, which in the event led to the races being cancelled. The long-term result of this natural ‘disaster’ was that freshmen got no instruction for a term, and enthusiasm for rowing evaporated. But to put the drop of our first boat into perspective, both LMBC I and Jesus II went down four places in the next Mays. Numbers henceforth become the burden of the Captains’ complaint, and the minutes notice, as they could hardly fail to do, the general collapse of interest in sport. The evidence for rowing’s decline is vivid: in 1954 the entry for the Fairbairn Cup race was eighty-seven, and by 1966 it had dropped to forty-three; in 1977 sixty-five men’s crews competed and eight ladies’. The sad result of this period is with us yet: Peterhouse no longer has its own playing fields on Porson Road (we now share those of Clare College), and most men who wish to play in land sport find themselves clubbing with non-Petreans. Only the Boat Club remains intact, though amalgamation has been sometimes, but not recently, in the air. Once the PBC suffered from the rise of athletics, but now, regrettably, it stands over their ruin.

In the Michaelmas term of 1966 it was resolved to take the Club in hand, and by forgoing any hope of personal success in that year, to lay a foundation for the future. In fact success was met with by the men of that year: the first eight won the Mayor’s plate at the Durham regatta which the Club had recently been regularly visiting (and in 1969 a four won the Corporation Challenge cup). But the principle of unripe time was at work and, if men refused to row, or to work at the oar, all the selfless planning in the world could not brake the slide. In the Lent term of 1968 the first boat had its first bump in four years, and it was made, somewhat surprisingly upon that rising star, Churchill I, a crew that had only once before been thus insulted. In May of 1968 only two of the five boats were rowed by Club members, the rest being gentlemen, rugger-players and thrill seekers (a recurrent pattern in these years). In that term the new singlet - royal blue with two horizontal white stripes - was adopted by the first eight; lower crews continued to wear trimmed zephyrs.

In the Michaelmas term of 1969 a freshman’s personal effort salvaged the disastrous recruiting. For the next couple of years the Fairbairn Cup race was rowed upstream from Bait’s Bite Lock to a point just above the gasworks; the building of the Elizabeth Bridge caused the reversal. In the Michaelmas term of 1970 a freshman, M.J. Hart, joined the PBC; he had been trained to row at Hampton Grammar School, and so his skill was even at that time of ‘Varsity class, and when he won his full Blue in 1972 he was already marked out as an oarsman of international status. With his partner in the double sculls, C. Baillieu, he won the silver medal at the Olympic Games of 1976 and the gold medal at last year’s World Rowing Championships; this Cambridge pair have frequently won at Henley and at International Regattas. There can be no doubt that Mike Hart will be for a long time the most successful oarsman ever to have rowed under Peterhouse colours.

In the Michaelmas term of 1971 Ernie Lingwood retired after having tended the Club’s boats for forty-one years. He had completed his apprenticeship as a boat builder at Banham’s, and he used his skills to good effect in keeping our boats in first-class order. Generations of Boat Club men will remember his skillful pole-work at the start of bumping races, and will have a clear picture of him emerging from his workshop with a welcoming smile and a helping hand whenever a boat returned from an outing. A special dinner was held in his honour at the end of term, and was attended by 35 old members of the Club. It is a fitting memorial of his service that our newest shell, of deep draught for use in regattas, bears his name.

About this time land training in circuits became popular. Hitherto, beyond morning walks and limbering up exercises, fitness was left to its own development from rowing. But gradually a series of exercises, often rendered hellish by the use of weights, was adopted, and by Lent of 1972 it is recorded that an outing and training consumed two and one half hours. Fifteen hours a week is no small portion of an undergraduate’s time. Long ago Rouse Hall was saddened by the increasing ‘professionalism’ in college rowing that was generated by the use of slides and other refinements. The gap between gentlemen and players has widened, and first boat oarsmen have heavy claims made upon their time and dedication. It is worth recalling the full effort they put out whenever we look in ‘The Times’ for that short black line which makes or mars a June morning.

It should be recorded - nefas! - that in Michaelmas of 1969 and again after the Lents of 1972 ladies attended the Club supper. Bonhomie implies one gender only.

The Club’s recent past is a pleasure to record, however briefly. From the early ‘70’s the officers have recognized the basic importance of numbers, and a general change in attitude among undergraduates has helped to swell the ranks. Coaching has always been a problem, but we are very fortunate in Tom Askwith and Gordon Hewlett. In 1975 under the Captaincy of P.C. Dracott the PBC again won the Michell Cup, and the first boat once again secured the right to compete at Henley. The crew now regularly attends regattas and head-races, and ascent is the order of the day. In the Lents of 1978 the second, third and fourth boat won their oars, and the PBC finds two of its crews in the second division. The society is in a position to celebrate its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary with substantial pride.