THE CLUB

Remenham Club

Founded 1909
7 Founding Clubs
1000 Members
On the Henley Royal Regatta course

About The Club

The Remenham Club was founded in 1909 during a meeting of metropolitan and up-river clubs. The clubs, now referred to as the founding clubs, are in upstream order: London Rowing Club, Vesta Rowing Club, Thames Rowing Club, Twickenham Rowing Club, Kingston Rowing Club, Molesey Boat Club and Staines Boat Club. The social club created for the Henley Royal Regatta has developed both its facilities as well as its role within the sport of rowing.

The Club grounds stand just under a mile along the 1.3 mile Royal regatta course. Within the grounds, the Clubhouse allows members and their guests to relax out of the elements as well as being the venue for social events outside of the five days of the Henley Royal Regatta. In addition to the clubhouse, the lawn and Remenham Mound, source of the renowned “Remenham Roar”, allows members and their guests the ability to socialise as well as cheering on the races.
CLUB RULES DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE
“One of the new features on the course is the charming little bungalow erected by the Remenham Club on the towpath side, just below the Grosvenor Club enclosure. Its position is in its way unrivalled, for it is the only place from which it is possible to see both the start and the finish of every race” 
Field magazine - 8th July 1911

Our Community & Ethos

Away from the Club grounds, the Remenham Club is also supports healthy competition and camaraderie between some of the country’s most well known rowing clubs through the Remenham Challenge and Annual Dinner.
Fundamental to the Remenham Club’s on-going popularity is the ethos by which it is run – by the members, for the members. It provides a unique taste of early 1900’s club life amongst the hustle and bustle of the 21st Century. Perceived as being fun, friendly and civilised, many members prefer the more intimate atmosphere of the Remenham Club to the queues and crowds in the main enclosures. Its size and limited numbers means that it is much easier to find old rowing friends.

Club History


Remenham Club

FROM THE VERY BEGINNING...
On the 2nd February 1909 a meeting was held at the Grosvenor Club in Piccadilly. The social club for ladies and gentlemen started life in Bond Street as an art gallery founded by Sir Coutts Lindsay and bankrolled by his wife Blanche, a Rothschild heiress.

The objects of the club were stated as “social intercourse and mutual and moral improvement”. By 1903 it had relocated to 68a Piccadilly and bought up property in Remenham lane to create a large lawn and clubhouse adjoining the river.

The Grosvenor facilities, which boasted a spacious lawn on the towpath side and a view over the whole of the Henley course, were made available for visiting crews to use and the committee was also in the habit of inviting groups of people from other clubs and institutions to become honorary members for the regatta, enabling them to take advantage of the facilities and the lunch tent in the grounds.

FOUNDING CLUBS

The meeting held at the Grosvenor club was to discuss the formation of a new social club at Henley. The idea of the club appears to have come from Mr. F.S. Lowe, an ex-captain of London; and it was mainly representatives of London Rowing Club and Thames Rowing Club who led the support of his vision and its successful formation. Also present at that first meeting were rowing men from Staines Boat Club, Kingston Rowing Club and Molesey Boat Club. The main outcome of the meeting was to appoint a sub-committee to consider the name, subscription cost and the membership criteria for the club.

Within a week they had settled on the name “The Remenham Club” and agreed that London, Thames, Kingston, Molesey, Twickenham and Staines would be considered to be the six Founding Clubs. Vesta was to be listed as one of the Founding Clubs in committee minutes from 28 June 1947 when the committee clarified the conditions of membership, bringing the number to seven.

The committees of these clubs were invited to attend a meeting on the 13th March, to found the proposed new Remenham Club. Key to this was the stated intention of strengthening their memberships and resources, by consolidating their oarsmen and giving them a common meeting place at Henley.

This common meeting place would be the Grosvenor River Club Buildings and Lawn in Remenham (now known as Barn Elms, adjoining the Remenham Club) providing members with lunch and dinner facilities and the opportunity to entertain guests. However following issues with the facilities provided for the club during the 1909 regatta, the arrangement between the Grosvenor and Remenham Clubs was officially terminated.

The Remenham club’s permanent home was agreed following a temporary location for the 1910 regatta, opposite Phyllis Court and adjoining the Leander Enclosure in White House meadow. Successful negotiations were held with the Hon. W.F.D. Smith, whose father and grandfather founded the firm of newsagent, to obtain a lease of 300 feet of frontage next to the Grosvenor Club. Signed in on the 30th January 1911, the lease was for 30 years at a cost of £40 per year and included a clause that trees should be planted at the club premises. This lease, which was changed to a 99 year lease in 1937, was finally replaced by the purchase of the freehold in 1953.

The Clubhouse was started in May 1911 around the same time that The Remenham Club became a limited company. The first committee meeting in the new building was held on the 1st July 1911 and, by the time of the regatta, the club’s future was secure.

Committee Members


W

elcome to The Remenham Club


G J E Lewis* KRC
President

* Members of the Management Committee
PAST PRESIDENT
J E C Steel, KRC
VICE PRESIDENTS
P A Francis*, KRC
C M Harvey, TRC
R J Hurles, TwRC
M J S Levy*, TRC
L J Malhi, SBC
S Molloy*, KRC
J Osborne*, VRC
D G Shove, TRC
EMERITUS VICE PRESIDENTS
C H E Fox, TwRC
P R Jennings, TwRC
R Welch, VRC
HON. SECRETARY
P A Francis*, KRC
MEMBERSHIP SEC.
J Osborne*, VRC
COMMITTEE CHAIR
M J S Levy*, TRC
HON. TREASURER
P Baldwin*, VRC
Club Representatives
M Cannon, VRC
I Cowell, LRC
S Dooley, TRC
L Dunlop, KRC
J Gray, LRC 
P Harvey, SBC
J Harris(c), TRC
J D Higgs, MBC
C Lennox(c), VRC
D C Lyon, TwRC
G Medcalf, SBC
J MacKinney(c), KRC
R G Stanley, TwRC
A Warren, MBC

(c) Co-opted pending election at the AGM
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