John Marston recently visited the Henley Royal Regatta for a special event:
"It was a pleasure to attend the Henley Royal Regatta as a guest of the 1974 Wallingford Schools Boat Club crew to mark the 50th anniversary of their triumph in winning the Britannia Challenge Cup. It was a very significant victory and many others followed for the crew at national and international level. Despite the weather, it was a great day and the spirit and collective joy of being, and rowing, together shone through. We look forward to welcoming the crew and coach (and former Wallingford School teacher) Bruce Grainger to the school in the autumn to talk with students about their achievement."
Current Wallingford School student Alice Hull (Year 10) stepped in as cox for the anniversary row-past. Mrs Hull tells us, "Alice enjoyed a slightly more relaxing opportunity to cox a crew down the Henley course, after racing with Wallingford RC on Tuesday and Thursday. There was lots of banter in the Wallingford School boat, and with the crew rowing before them, which included their opposition in the 1974 final. Hearing their stories has definitely given Alice a taste for more Henley racing in years to come."
Here are further details of the anniversary and event from the club newsletter:
"On 7th July 1974, Wallingford Schools Boat Club won the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. They remain the only junior crew to win this "club" coxed fours event. So dominant were they in the regatta, that they won each round bar one by an "easily" verdict. And as a result, the rowing press speculated whether the WSBC crew would be selected to represent GB at the senior world championships, as well as the junior world's (where they won the bronze).
"On 7th July 2024, 50 years to the day later, the crew of John Wiggins, Simon Wroe, Bill Lang and Roger Brown celebrated the anniversary of this achievement, by taking part in a row-past up the Henley course during the HRR finals' day lunch interval. Their coach, Bruce Grainger, and their cox from 50 years ago, Tim Potter, were in attendance also as were many members of their families, all too young to have been there in 1974. Unfortunately Tim is now too tall to shoe-horn into a racing boat, and so one of Wallingford Rowing Club's current coxes Alice Hull, who herself is at Wallingford School, took charge of them. The current Wallingford School Head, John Marston, was also in attendance as the crew's guest.
"Tragically, both Roger and Simon had lost their wives in the last month, but both were determined to go ahead with the row-past. They both know that their wives were beaming down on them with pride."
