News & Events
G.J.W. Frith
13th September 2018
G.J.W. (Barney) Frith
1937 - 2018
The past few years have taken a steady toll of those whom many older Cygnets fondly remember as the 'Last of the Summer Wine' generation. Named after the TV sitcom of the same name, these aged swans would regularly gather at the boathouse on Tuesdays and Thursdays to engage in some light training followed by a lengthy period of contemplation and reflection in the Cygnet bar. One of their number was Graham 'Barney' Frith who died on Tuesday, 4th September 2018, following a long battle with Motor Neurone Disease. He was 81.
Barney Frith joined Cygnet in 1961 and rowed with the likes of Mike Arnold-Gilliat, Derek Bush, Colin Dominy, John Ellis, John Hildrey and Len Huggett to name but a few. Although the sixties were not an era of huge success for Cygnet, Barney nevertheless played his part in securing such coveted trophies as the Twickenham Cup for the third time since the war, in 1962. Derek Bush recalls rowing with him in the club regatta and Len Huggett liked to relate the story of how Barney cost them a race at Kingston Regatta because he spent more time trying to swipe a swan than 'getting on with the race'.
Blessed with a head for numbers, Barney found his professional niche in the National Audit Office and apparently displayed a keen mathematical interest in gambling. Such attributes would later be turned to good effect playing the financial markets in retirement and picking potential winners for the Last of the Summer Wine horse racing syndicate.
Barney never allowed rowing to interfere with his social life. Contemporary accounts describe him as a 'young blade' for whom assignations with the fairer sex always held more attraction than 'jugging' it up with his crew mates after an outing. In the fullness of time, Barney met Miss Right - Brenda - and they married in the late-1960s. Rather than send a telegram, his crew mates penned an 'Ode to A Young Swan', which lamented the fact that Barney had hung up his blade and traded his carefree days at Cygnet for a life of domestic bliss.
Soon afterwards, the newly-weds moved away and started a family and Barney retired from active rowing. It would be some years before he resurfaced at the boathouse, having escaped the clutches of the National Audit Office, courtesy of an early retirement scheme. However, no sooner had he become a paid-up member of the Last of the Summer Wine set than he fell into the clutches of club chairman Mike Arnold-Gilliat, who dragooned him into the post of club treasurer.
Despite his accounting background, Barney was not a natural treasurer; he agonized over any expenditure, wrote a long committee paper outlining a doom scenario for club finances and concluded that the club should stop buying boats until further notice. It was not a match made in heaven and he and the post of treasurer were soon parted, much to the relief of all concerned. Doom mongering tended to be Barney's stock-in-trade and he would later emerge as a strident opponent of a proposed merger with BBLRC, condemning it as a financial accident waiting to happen.
Shorn of his official duties, Barney was free to devote himself to managing his share portfolio, honing his skills at bridge - he played a mean hand by all accounts - and entering into the full extra curricula activities of the Last of the Summer Wine set. One high spot he always enjoyed was the annual President's lunch at Henley Royal Regatta. The Friths had lived in Henley-on-Thames for a good deal of their married life and were well known on the bridge circuit, which continued to draw them back long after they had moved to Gerrards Cross in the early 1980s.
Barney was nothing if not a creature of habit. John Hildrey recalls that on their regular lunch time visits to the William Webb Ellis in Twickenham, Barney always brought a cushion (he suffered from a bad back) and always ordered ham, egg and chips. Many will remember Barney as a heavy smoker, but he rarely imbibed to the same extent as some of his less inhibited compatriots, preferring not to put his driving license at risk. This marked him out as an obvious taxi driver, a task he always performed with dignity and aplomb, decanting the likes of Mike AG and Len Huggett home to their respective front doors at the end of a 'heavy' day.
In later life, Barney fretted that most of his closer associates were older than him, presaging a lonely old age. In reality, the Cygnet social safety net was always close at hand and many older members will lament his passing. Barney's wife, Brenda, predeceased him by some years; he is survived by a married daughter, Helen, to whom the Club sends its sincere condolences.
Barney's funeral will take place at 11.45am on Tuesday, 25th September. Details are available here.
Paul Rawkins
Deneb Captain's Log VIII
10th September 2018
Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen.
I hope you all had a fantastic Weekend.
Club day!
Great Saturday, Fun side by side rowing, BBL Boat naming, BBQ, Drinks, Raffle - the complete programme. Congratulations to the Winners 4+ (Sian, Ian, Mustafa,Bec M, Jackie D) and 4x (Clemmy, Cara , Corinna, Charlotte) Well done! Claps, claps, claps!Many Thanks to all of you who made it possible, attendees and volunteers (Marshals, Spectators,Raffles Sponsors, Photographs... ) ; especially Carly for organising and Hannah for the nice design of the wining pots.
My favourite event of the day was the Cake Competition ; all of them were delicious , all of them deserved an award many thanks to all participants but the winner was..... Jackie Darling's Key Lime Pie (yummy).
This Weekend we have our Sculling Camp, please let Niall know if you are attending by filling in this form to let him know for how longFood
And talking about food...Thursday Social is still on, let's see if we can get this moving. Please let me know ASAP if you want to show your skills cooking this Thursday after Outing/Training/Loading the trailer for S Camp . Don't be shy ; if no one step up, please feel free to have one pint at the club bar and head to the pub afterwards ;)As general information,Thursday from 20.30 after outings/training in the club bar, volunteers from both clubs sign up to cook at least once. Nothing lavish, just some post outing fuel, no more than £3 per head, so don't be shy and let me know if you are keen to show your skills any Thursday. If you want you can also cook in pairs ;).
Rowing this week: CYG Training according to plan...
Ergs
Tuesday / 2x20' @ R22 3min rest approx. 2k+12s
Thursday /3 x 6' @ R24 3 min rest 5k pace
Tuesday we are having the new LTR in the shed too, so please share the space, let 6 Ergs Free/the ones closer to the door
Outings plan/ Sculling Camp plan will follow....
And that is for the moment. Have a nice Monday and a better week,
Cris
Dates for you diary:
- Weekend 15th-16th September: Sculling Camp
- 6th of October: Pairs Head / Rhein Marathon
- Saturday 10th November Cygnet Henley Lunch
Deneb Captain's Log VII
7th September 2018
Good Evening Cygnets!
I hope everyone had a good weekend.
On Friday we had our End of Season dinner. Thank you to all the attendees, I hope you all had a great night (I did) and special thanks to Rupert for organising. It was a great evening with a 300 Club draw included (Thank you Guy and congratulations to the winners); it finished as usual with some extra drinks in the club bar.
Congratulations to Henrik S. - GP Jeffries Cup for Rower of the Year and Rupert B. - Wally Wheldal Cup for sportsmanship and endeavour, for their awards.
Saturday and Sunday we had our 1st sessions of the Season coached by Chihiro Calvin. Important points to remember from the last squad meeting (we will go through this again):
- Green Sessions have priority
- 2 ergs scores at the end of the week to get priority in boats
- 2nd Session on Sunday is to catch up, if you missed one of the green ones ;)
- Deadline to update availability Thursday noon / 12.pm
If you have a question, please ask me or hold it until next coached session.
Also as mentioned in previous emails. I love beer and history....and as Paul R. (Cygnet Historian) very kindly enlightened me....
"... Cygnet being Cygnet, no sooner had they agreed to form a club than the committee produced three sets of rules, including all sorts of fines and penalties if the rules were broken:
- Sixpence (two and a half pence)for failing to turn up for a practice outing
- A sliding scale from three pence to one shilling (five pence) for using a boat for longer than the allotted time depending on the type of boat
- Using a boat without permission - sixpence
- The most serious crime all, failing to turn up for a regatta - one shilling"Just to put these numbers in perspective, the annual subscription was 28 shillings, which would be about £1.40 "
Same will be applied this year for the active squad but adding 2 more little sins of being late and not rigging boats after race. Obviously instead of sixpence it will be £2, the price of a small beer. The amount collected will be invested in a Cygnet event (Drinks, BBQ, Pub crawls, Training camp?)
This WEEK:
Training according plan (please attached, it will be soon in FitClub.me)
Tuesday / 5k @ r26 Lets start having benchmark to work with.
Conditioning and stretching.Thurs / 3 x 10' @20 (5k+3s) 5 min rest /
Saturday: 7.30 Latest OTW short sharp Outing since direct afterwards we are having Club day as per Carly's and Rupert's email./ availability by Thursday noon please.
Sunday 7.30 OTW Outings / availability by Thursday noon please.
Also... Pairs Head , so find your partner and let me know latest by this Thursday 6th of September if you are keen, so we can allocate boats. Please update your BR cards . In case we have more crews than boats,. Selection will apply base on training and capabilities.
LTR to starts Sunday 9th of September , Please please Spread the Word share with friends family, neighbours, spam your working colleagues.
And that is for the moment....more to come little by little...Have a nice Monday eve, sleep well and have a better week
Cris
Dates for you diary:
- Saturday 8th September: Club day
- Weekend 15th-16th September: Sculling Camp
- 6th of October: Pairs Head / Rhein Marathon
Rowing and Racing Calendar
