Appendix 1. Tom’s closing thoughts #

One is tempted to use the title of Haydn’s Opus 51 quartets, but that would be inappropriate.

Tom wrote, on July 25^th,^ ‘56, a letter which began in typical Tom fashion:

"… I can assure you that the thanks are all mine. I have never, I can sincerely say, had a happier time than coaching the Peterhouse crew at Cambridge and Henley.

My fear all along was that I would not do you justice. In the event all turned out magnificently well but the reason for your success was the solid hard work of mileage which you put in during the winter. This made you as fit or fitter than any crew at the Regatta and enabled you to survive that grueling final – and win.

Secondly, you owe a lot to Danny and I wrote to him after the regatta and told him so …"

“I wrote to ROWING the other day and pointed out that if all the crews at Henley or even the Grand crews had done the mileage that you had done there would not be much to worry about in English rowing.”

Tom’s letter was very long and somewhat personal. Towards the end of it, he said:

“It is very important that the record of this Henley and in fact the whole year should be kept green so that coming generations can see what can be achieved through keenness. In each successive race you competed for you were not tipped to succeed but did so.

So one lesson is that though the goal often seems unattainable it is also frequently within one’s reach without realizing it.

The second is that it is often almost (as) fatal to underrate one’s opponents as it is pointless to overrate them.

The third is that such success is not achieved by a few weeks at Henley, but by months of slogging beforehand.”

So …Tom … here’s to you!

We’re still trying … and you’re still reaching out over the years

… and we wish both you and Danny could be enjoying reading this

as much as we have enjoyed writing it.