Pentathlum - Aquatic and Athletic Notes ... 1882

I have a very full budget of regattas, which always come thick and fast directly after Henley. I will begin with Stourport, on July 10 (Monday), which opened the West-country ball. The races are rowed about a mile upstream, on the Severn, but the entries were not very high class, and the racing poor. In the Town Plate, for senior fours, Evesham made a distinct advance on their previous form and won rather easily, beating a young Hereford four in the final heat after both had been indulged with a row over in the trial ties. The junior Worcester four of last year came out of the juniors' race in very good form, and won both their heat and the final with ease, Hereford, Stourport Institute, and a Manchester Irwel A.R.C. being the beaten lots. Last season the senior sculls gave capital racing and some excellent sport, but this time R.H.Whitcombe, of Bewdley, had very little trouble with E.Brown of Evesham, and F.Billington , of Chester St.Thomas R.C. Junior pairs and junior sculls gave plenty of sport of a certain description.

On Wednesday, July 12, Evesham followed; the strong stream against which the races are rowed, however spoilt the racing, and gave the inside station several lengths the best of it. In the junior sculls G.Q.Roberts, Worcester R.C., the bowman of the Hertford four, had very little difficulty in winning from A.H.Callaway, of Stratford-on-Avon; Farmer, of Bridgnorth; and H.Ward, of Evesham. In the senior sculls E.Buck, the Worcester and Hertford sculler, allowed E.Brown, of Evesham, to have the inside berth, but lost the race on a foul claimed by Brown as a reward for his opponent's generosity. The umpire, E.B.Martin, decidedly showed culpable indecision by altering his verdict several times on the appeal, eventually deciding in favour of his own man. The Worcester juniors, with the worst station, followed up their Stourport success by beating an Evesham four for the juniors here, and must be rather above the average. For the senior fours, Worcester, with Roberts, Slade, Buck and Cock, a very formidable quartette, although they had only been together for one day, beat Burton easily in their first heat, and also Bridgnorth in the second. In the final, want of practice and the outside station fairly beat them, and Evesham won rather easily, to the intense joy and delight of the locals, unmindful of a Nemesis awaiting them at Worcester on the morrow. A Bristol Redcliffe R.C. pair won the gig pairs easily.

On Thursday, Worcester Regatta took place over the usual Pitchcroft course. The junior sculls were won by Roberts, and the second four-oared race proved a gift to the Worcester cre No. 2, who, after Stourport and Evesham, fairly frightened away opposition, and had little trouble with an Hereford R.C. combination. The senior fours, however, gave some capital racing. A Burton four - J.Thomson, G.M.Day, S.H.Evershed, A.A.Nash (stroke) - in the first heat beat Bristol Redcliffe easily. Worcester, then with the best station, revenged themselves on their Evesham conquerors of the previous day. This left Worcester and Burton to fight out the final, and as at Evesham Burton had been defeated by the red and black, a similar result was expected. Burton, however, with the best or racecourse side, came away with the lead, and a punishing finish and grand tussle ended with Worcester's defeat by about two feet. This is the second year Worcester has had to suffer from the risky experiment of racing trained crews after barely two days' practice. With only one week's proper training the Worcester four would be the best ever seen in the West of England, but to begin practice and row at all the regattas in one and the same week is almost an impossibility, unless the opposing crews are little better than the junior class.

On Tuesday, July 18, ancient Tewkesbury held its 23rd annual regatta, supplemented with athletic sports, and a fruit and flower show. So far it is certainly the best West-country regatta of the present season, not withstanding the wind, rain, and rough water rather interfered with the sport and the spectators. For the Toddington Vase, Worcester (two crews), Bath Avon, and Bridgnorth had entered. The second Worcester crew withdrew, and the others rowed off in one heat, Worcester on the outside, Bath in the middle, and Bridgnorth with the best or inside berth. The latter have one fresh man in the boat, and have changed their stroke since last year, and are by no means up to their previous form. Bath Avon are not the crew of Henley and the Metropolitan fame, and Worcester having profitted by some steady practice were much improved in pace and finish. The Avon men made a very good fight for half the distance, and beat Bridgnorth a long way, but at the bridge Worcester had the race in hand and won easily. The reported flyers from Hereford and Shrewsbury did not put in an appearance. The Public Schools Challenge Cup is now given with the senior sculls and a gold medal; and E.Buck, the Worcester R.C. captain, well served by his strength in the wind and waves, beat Birch, of Stratford-on-Avon and G.Q.Roberts, Worcester, in a strange boat, easily. Cock, the "Mr Severn" of last year won the juniors from three indifferent scullers; and an unlucky swamping probably lost the Worcester second four the Severn Plate, eventually won by Stratford-on-Avon from the Bath Avon crew, pretty wellexhausted by two previous hard races. A canoe race gave some close racing, Linder, who cleared most of these races last year, again proving in form, and a winner. The scratch races fell through; and another year, perhaps, Tewkesbury would be a gainer if they held their regatta a little earlier in the season, before Evesham and Worcester, and when the various West-country fours had not found their level. The prizes were handsome and valuable, and of course Mr F.Moore, as secretary, did the best for the success of his favourite regatta, and to his hospitality and geniality its popularity is in no small measure to be attributed.

In the evening the bowling green, as usual, was the scene of fun and fireworks, and although not so merry as in the old days, when several metrpolitan crews disported themselves under the shadow of the old Abbey walls, the quiet old town held high revelry until a very late hour, and in a mild way tried to rival Henley on the second night of the regatta, although without the same damaging effect to belligerent oarsmen as was the case at the leading regatta on July 7 last. When will some Londoners again try a country trip, as they so frequently did in the old days.
I expect the Birmingham regatta will fall through this season. The two previous ventures were certainly not profitable speculations, and the Brums were not to be enticed to the bank of Edgbaston Reservoir, it always seems to rain on the regatta day, which did not tend to improve the gate. The course also was far too short to test the endurance of the competitors.