Anne Brewin, the Henley Regatta, and 50 years of support for Clare Boat Club
By the early ’70s, one or two Clare crews each year would enthusiastically decamp to Henley for several weeks of practice, racing and socialising. However, after the 1972 regatta, Clare found itself without Henley accommodation. Boatman Peter Frost and captain Rod Croucher (1970) heard that Anne Brewin – tenant of Middle Culham Farm – had evicted her misbehaving 1972 crew, and they offered for 1973 the well-behaved Clare squad! “At first I told them absolutely not,” remembered Anne. “Then I took pity on them and agreed to take Clare for one year only.” And so began Anne’s fifty-year relationship with Clare Boat Club and the College.
The Clare squad was accommodated in the farmhouse already populated by Anne’s five children. Rod recalls, “We were welcomed as part of Anne’s family and, very soon, became the family. I remember a house full of happiness and fun and large contented oarsmen; the kitchen was always warm and friendly and Anne rose magnificently to the challenge of feeding us with huge quantities of food.” However, Anne was reticent to take the crew for another year until persuaded by her children. Julia, Anne’s youngest child, explains, “Having CBC staying at my childhood home in July was always special. For many of the early years it was like having a host of big brothers; then we became peers, then I became their big sister and then their Henley Auntie!”
So Anne’s hospitality became an annual treat for Clare crews. Philip Moore (1979) remembers, “The welcome was warm, the food plentiful and the party on the last Saturday put May Week to shame. Even the smell of the pigs – it was a working farm – couldn’t spoil the amazing time she gave us.”
However, the Henley rowing scene was changing. No Oxbridge college eight had won since 1967 and no four since 1974. Other universities had successfully taken up rowing! Clare would find themselves racing against such large university boat clubs as London, Durham, Harvard or Yale. Clare had to be satisfied with getting a win in an early round of the racing, rather than aiming for the finals. Before long, Clare found it difficult even to progress from the Regatta qualifying race. In parallel with declining crew numbers, Anne had moved to progressively smaller houses in Henley. The offer of a place to sleep remained however. Anne remembered, “On Regatta Saturday night anyone could stay the night …. You could sleep anywhere, but the bathroom was out of bounds.”
A lean period with few Henley qualifications was temporarily paused when Clare qualified a men’s four in both 2004 and 2005. Jenny Maud (Captain 2005) remembers, “Anne was of course delighted, and showed us her customary amazing hospitality. We stayed with her in Henley, marvelling at the wonderful yellow house, yellow car, yellow flowers and even yellow food!”
As the need for accommodation had waned, Anne’s hospitality was redirected to hosting a generous buffet lunch on the Regatta Wednesday. This event was held on Anne’s regular pitch in the
Henley Stewards’ car park and continued – Covid years excepted – until 2022, bringing together generations of Clare rowers. As Jenny Maud observes, “From the many alumni who followed the familiar path to Anne’s parking space and huge yellow and black parasol, we understood we were just the latest additions to a large family, all of whom had experienced Anne’s friendship over the years… My memories of those special days in Henley are some of the happiest and most carefree of my life.”
As well as being central to CBC alumni relations, Anne was a generous donor of at least four boats. She was also joint patron of the CBC 175th Anniversary Appeal in 2006, which secured the long-term financial support of rowing at Clare. This record of service to the Club was remarkable, especially for someone not an alumna of the College. This anomaly was rectified in 2007, when a delighted Anne was made an honorary member of the College.
An apt summary of Anne Brewin’s relationship with the Boat Club comes from Jeremy Hazzledine (Captain 1975): “Since rowing in the Wyfold IVs in my and Anne’s first year of Clare, I have been to all but one regatta in the 50 years since. It has been truly remarkable to experience Anne’s unwavering love, generosity and support for the Boat Club and, on a personal level, for the rowers and their families.”
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