God Damn Bloody Magdalen!
New College Boat Club Newsletter, Michaelmas Term 2020
President’s Welcome
Even after acting as Men’s Captain in my second year and Secretary in my third, this will be a somewhat unfamiliar year when it comes to rowing at New College. The floors of our Boathouse and Erg Suite are decorated with more tape than usual, and for the moment it seems that morning walks to the river as a full Joshua Hayler, NCBC President 2020-21 VIII are to be avoided. Nevertheless, we are an adaptive and motivated club and our fundamental commitment to and passion for rowing remains fully intact. This year’s committee may well have had one of the busiest first summers of any, and I have to thank them for the unhesitant assumption of their roles to ensure that come Michaelmas we can begin training safely and effectively.
There will inevitably be some disappointing changes to our rowing life; crew-dates will, naturally, be sorely missed. Although it may seem to be a sorry state of affairs that the most alcohol our rowers will likely see this term will be found in the boathouse hand-sanitising stations, the competitor in me cannot help but note the silver lining in there being fewer excuses than usual for backing out of pre-dawn training (not that we would expect such a thing from any proud NCBC athlete…).
The Club’s social calendar for the year is hardly empty, however, and we have every intention of hosting the belated Women’s 40th Anniversary VIII’s Dinner on the 29th of May, 2021. This will be accompanied by an exhibition of NCBC memorabilia, including the inaugural viewing of “New College Boat Club: A Collective History”—a (purple!) leather-bound book to be kept in the New College archives containing anecdotes of NCBC life both past and present.
Whatever shape the coming year takes, it will be a pleasure to act as president and I have every faith that our committee will step-up to the challenges and uncertainty this year brings. As always, should any of our alumni happen to pass through Oxford and want to hear about how the Club is getting on I am more than happy to oblige (albeit at a distance).
GDBM.
Joshua Hayler, President 2020-21
NCBC Collective History – Appeal for Stories!
We’re delighted to announce that Maltby’s Bookbinders have completed the book we will use for the Collective History. The pages are approximately A4 size, and the book is bound in a beautiful purple goatskin leather. The front cover is stamped with gold leaf, as shown here. The materials used are acid-free and archive quality, so we expect the book to last hundreds of years in the New College Archives.
Alumni can find the original email we sent about the Collective History Project here. We would like to continue collecting stories about your time in the Boat Club (be they triumphant, amusing or slightly shameful), and invite any alumni to get in touch with Charles Baker, the Alumni & Sponsorship Secretary ([email protected]). Stories need not be about a race day; part of this project is to show that the social side of NCBC is an integral part of the community. Any moment or
story you feel is a defining moment of your time at NCBC is very welcome.
We have already received stories from the 1940s right the way through to the 2010s, and we are delighted with the diversity of these entries. We are very happy to take stories with anonymised characters, or from anonymous contributors. Alumni who wish to be named are welcome to include any positions they held at the Boat Club, to be written beside their name.
If you are interested in supporting the project further, the Boat Club is still inviting Subscriptions. As with early printed books, a list of Subscribers will be written into the front of the book to thank them for contributing £40 to the cost of materials and production. Please contact Charles Baker if you are interested to support the project in this way. Financial support for the project is by no means a prerequisite for contributing a story.
Our current Indoor Regatta Secretary, Rachel Laing, will contribute her calligraphy skills by writing this first collection into the book. The book itself will be on display during our Eights Week celebration (see below). In normal times it is intended to be viewable in the College Archives by any former member (by appointment with the Archivist). We will also endeavour to put the contents of the Collective History on the Boat Club website once complete.
Consulting the Archives for material to display at Eights Dinner, we’ve found a number of interesting photographs and documents relating to the old College barge and Boat Club flag. We are particularly keen to hear from any Old Members who have any recollections about the barge or occasions when the flag might have changed!
We look forward to reading more contributions, and we hope you will agree that NCBC’s history is worth preserving in this way.
Charles Baker Alumni & Sponsorship Secretary 2019-2021
Upcoming NCBC Events
The Boat Club is affected by the current circumstances as much as any sports club. We have recently regained access to the Boathouse, and are soon to resume outings (in accordance with British Rowing guidance). We are planning the year ahead with cautious optimism, focusing on our rescheduled Eights events from last term.
Eights Dinner will take place on the 29th of May 2021, and will be the Boat Club’s delayed celebration of 40 years of women rowing for New College. Throughout the day, an exhibition of “Life in the Boat Club”, showcasing archive pieces as well as more informal materials, will be on display. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be the Collective History, as mentioned above. The usual pre-dinner drinks reception will take place in this exhibition, and we hope to have some of our earliest women’s crews speaking. This will be followed by Eights Dinner in Hall. This represents our ideal scenario, and we intend to work hard to make the event as close as possible to this while keeping our rowers and visitors completely safe.
It is currently unclear whether we will be able to hold our usual London Drinks. We are exploring the possibility, and have a tentative date of Thursday the 11th of February 2021. We hope to offer an alternative if this proves impossible.
NCBC Ties and Buttons
We are pleased to again offer for purchase New College Boat Club Ties; this style first came into production in 2017, to display the Club colours prominently along with the crest. Ties are available for £22 each.
We are extremely grateful to Richard White (Captain, 1989-90) for informing us that he and a group of alumni commissioned some beautiful New College buttons for blazers this year. A picture of the buttons can be found on the next page. A set containing three main buttons and six cuff buttons is available for £30.
In addition to these items, we are delighted to continue offering NCBC lapel pins to our alumni. These are free of charge, and would normally be distributed at our events. In the current circumstances, however, we will be posting
these out with any other items if you have yet to receive a lapel pin.
Please get in contact with Charles Baker ([email protected]) if you would like to purchase any of these items. The Club does not profit from sales, and items are offered at cost price.
Dates For Your Diary This is a list of provisional dates for the upcoming year: events may be subject to change.
Thursday 11th of February 2021 NCBC London Drinks, Venue TBC
3rd-6th of March 2021 Torpids 2021
26th-29th of May 2021 Eights Week 2021
Saturday the 29th of May 2021 Eights Dinner and Celebration of 40 Years of Women Rowing for NCBC
Any alumni who find themselves in Oxford are always welcome to email our President or Alumni Secretary. Restrictions permitting, we will be delighted to meet former members in the college grounds or at the boathouse.