Rowing at Erith Rowing Club

Rowing is a sport that many have heard of but often wrongly consider it to be a sport of the privileged - people who attend Private Schools and go on to University. It may therefore come as a surprise to learn that residents of Erith and the surrounding areas have been taking to the water in boats like those used in the Olympics, the Boat Race and Henley Royal Regatta from the 1890s and have been regularly competing successfully in rowing (where participants use one oar each) and sculling (2 oars each) events around the country as members of Erith Rowing Club since 1943.

Being a riverside town, Erith has always had a close affinity with rowing, from the wherries used to unload ships in the Middle Ages, through to Erith Rowing Club’s racing activities of the present day. Many older residents of the town can remember the Erith Town Regatta, which started in the 1890s and was held each August Bank Holiday until the 1950s. Local Social Clubs, pubs and firms from the area would race each other regularly at weekends. There was always great competition between the apprentices of Frasers and Vickers with big write-ups in the local papers. Over the years several Rowing Clubs were founded but by 1940 only one or two remained and in 1943 Erith Rowing Club was founded. It is the only Rowing Club on the Thames between Greenwich and Gravesend and since its founding has always been open to people from all walks of life and all levels of society.

Since its foundation the Club has taught and trained many people from very diverse backgrounds and occupations to row and race with considerable success but with little publicity. For many years the Club organised an annual August Bank Holiday Regatta, initially on the Thames at Erith as part of the Town’s August Bank Holiday celebrations and latterly on Danson Lake where Clubs from all over the country have competed.

There is an excellent fleet of boats catering for people of both sexes, all shapes, sizes and ages and all levels of expertise from beginners to the very highest (a recent member previously won at Henley Royal Regatta and represented Australia in the Olympics in 1976). The Club has always competed across the country in different regattas and head races and is a regular supporter of events in the surrounding area - particularly on the Medway at Maidstone where it has had many successes. However, it also takes part in events as far afield as Chester and the upper Thames , and has entered crews at Henley Royal Regatta.

The Club has a number of qualified coaches and uses Danson Lake in Danson Park , just off the A2 at Bexleyheath, on weekday evenings in the summer and Saturday mornings all year round to teach people to row before they can take to the Thames at Erith. There is a smart, modern Clubhouse on the High Street at Erith, where winter land training takes place on several evenings a week as well as numerous social events throughout the year. The Clubhouse is next to the causeway for easy access to the river on summer evenings and weekends all year round. There is plenty of parking nearby.