Seven members of the victorious 1964 Bedford Regatta 1st VIII crew gathered back at school for their 60-year reunion. Flying in from Australia, South Africa, the US, and those more local, the crew soon started swapping stories about the glory days. Four members of the crew, accompanied by the Director of the OB Club, Hugh Maltby (73-83), braved the river to paddle the town course, letting out an “ERP” as they went under the Town Bridge. Except for Mike Goodfellow (61-65), the other members of the crew hadn’t rowed for several years, although they quickly picked up where they left off with no one getting a dunking!
Later that evening, the crew and their respective partners met up for dinner in the Memorial Hall. The crew was joined by the OB Club President, Richard Northern (63-72), the Head Master, James Hodgson, and special guest Jim Davidson (staff 54-87).
Jim gave a short, heartfelt speech reflecting on his old friend and the crew’s coach, Neville Andrew, who sadly passed away last year. Neville was integral to the success of the crew, which enjoyed reading his personal diary charting the crew’s training programme leading up to Henley (see HERE). Unbeknown to the crew, the diary had some harsh comments from Neville including on the 20th May “Hopeless! Everything seems to have gone to pieces. Stroke missing his beginning – hence no rhythm. Finishes poor, no slide control and no work. 2nd VIII beat us, Fuse Box to the Suspension Bridge”. By Bedford Regatta the faults had been ironed out and the crew won their event in a new course record of 3 minutes 30 seconds. Unlike today’s 1st VIII, the crew had no telemetry, relying purely on the feel of the boat and pulling hard!
At the end of the dinner each crew member reflected on their own fond memories of rowing together and their shared camaraderie toasting absent crew members, John Osborne (60-65) and Peter Harpham (60-64).
The next day, following the dinner, the crew attended the annual OB Club “At Home” with fellow ‘64 leavers.
