Old Photographs: Rowing and Sailing

.

Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire

.

Bradford on Avon Rowing Club began in 1873 and built a boathouse next to Barton Bridge. Its canoeing arm has recently gained fame after member Ed McKeever gained a gold medal in the 200m kayak  event at the London 2012 Olympics.

.

Bradford Rowing Club 1926

Bradford Rowing Club coxed pairs winners with their trophies at Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire in 1926. The rowers are George Brown (left) and Stanley Long and the cox is Gerald Christopher, the son of Richard, the chemist whose shop is now in Bradford on Avon Museum.

.

Click on the thumbnail pictures to see a larger version

.

The Rowing Club’s boathouse next to Barton Bridge. A house in the background in course of construction was built in 1906, giving the date of the photograph. The boathouse has been extended since then.

.

.

 

Bradford Rowing Club eight at Barton BridgeA Bradford Rowing Club eight on the River Avon at the medieval Barton Bridge in about 1960.

Incidentally, in the background beyond the bridge, is the old Great Western Railway goods shed which was demolished.

.

.

Bradford Rowing Club coxed pairsCoxed pairs racing on the River Avon, probably at the time of the annual regatta, which was held in August, in the 1960s.

.

.

.

Bradford Rowing ClubMembers of the Bradford Rowing Club, presumably an eight and their cox and others, posing at the club’s boathouse opposite Barton Farm.

.

.

.

sailing on the AvonThe Bradford on Avon Sailing Club was founded in 1965 as the Staverton & Bradford Sailing Club, sailing Mirror dinghies. It has a boathouse by the water meadows upstream of Bradford, a stretch known as “The Main”, where the river is wider and slower.

.

.

Bradford Sailing Club boathouseThe Bradford Sailing Club boathouse, raised on stilts above flood level. It and boatyard are surrounded by substantial steel railings now.

.

.

 

     < Back to the previous page