Extra Special EDITION

July 2007

This is It This is what we are looking to achieve This will be ours!

Barry is on holiday at the moment so I thought I would do a special edition of the Club Newsletter so that members are kept informed about what is going on down at the Slipway

On Tuesday 2^nd July 2007, Club Members, along with a man named Les who handled a JCB, demolished and removed the old Boathouse. A big thank you is due to all those who in the days leading up to ‘D’ Day, cleared the way for demolition and particularly to those who helped remove the old Boathouse and clear the site in readiness for the builders.

Those who worked on removing the “old” Boathouse were;

Bob Kemlo, Jim Beaney, Dave Cooper, Brian Dees, Ron Bishop, Dave Duce, Ted Hills, Anna Flawn, Margaret Stubbs, Barry Pearson, John Rogers, Jack Medhurst, John Cooke, Len Wenham and Alastair McVeigh.

It is interesting to note that in 1958, Ted Hills and Dave Cooper also had a hand in erecting the old Boathouse.  It was a poignant moment for us all to see it come down but it must have been particularly so for them.

The photographs above show the last moments of the “Old” Boathouse, the work on demolition began at 8.20am and the final piece was removed at just after midday.  The rest of the day was spent clearing the Slipway and putting the material into three large skips.

This is how the Slipway looked once everybody had left after an exhausting days work.

As can been seen above, work has begun on the new Boathouse.  The Slipway has been marked out and some shuttering for the steel reinforced concrete base is in place.

The building is scheduled for completion at the end of September following which another big effort will have to be made for fitting out.  The work at the end of September will not include partitioning, routing of mains water, electricity or sewerage.  The men’s and women’s changing rooms, showers, and toilets will all need to be added and the recreation area completed. 

There is a great feeling of optimism and this building is the most ambitious project that the Club has ever undertaken dating back as far as 1865.  It is expected that fitting out will be completed in 2008 when an official opening will coincide with another great anniversary. It will mark the amalgamation in 1958, of Medway Rowing Club and the Chatham and Gillingham Rowing Club and the formation of Medway Towns Rowing Club fifty years ago.

                   The Club went from this                                                and something like this

To this

And now for this

All photographs and sketches are courtesy of Jim Beaney

                                                                                        Jim Beaney 14^th July 2007