News & Events
Cygnet Weekly Update
28th June 2017
All,
More good news to report from Richmond Regatta where Marj, Sam, Scott, Ian and Robin beat Putney Town by a length and a quarter to record back-to-back wins and their first at IM3. It is really satisfying to beat one of our local rivals who had beaten Vesta in the semi final showing the progress we've made as a club.
And well done to Cris who won his Nov 1x heat, so that time practising starts and high rate pieces paid off.Next up is Kingston Regatta on the 8th July, our IM3 4+ is entered, any other takers before entries close?
This week:
Wednesday:
Kingston crews outings if possibleThursday:
Squad ergo at 7pm 1250m, 1000m, 750m, 500m @ 2k pace, 5 min restNovices - I only have Jon, Jim and Ashley down as available, so unless something changes quickly, can you join the squad ergo.
Saturday:
Main squad meet at 7:05, 7:30 OTW focus on preparation for KingstonNovices: Plan is to meet at 9, OTW at 9:30, but right now only Ashley has provided his availability, so please complete it asap.
Sunday:
Main squad meet at 7:05, 7:30 OTW focus on preparation for KingstonI hope those going to Old Blades at Henley on Friday have a great day, sorry that I can't be there but I'll be thinking of you as I hike up and down the Alps.
Have a good week
Jez
Len Hugget
20th June 2017
Len Huggett
29th March 1930 - 16th June 2017
Len Huggett, who has died at the age of 87, was one of the paid-up members of the 'Last of the Summer Wine' set who gathered at the Boathouse every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, pontificating on the world through an alcoholic haze. Collectively and individually, they were a near perfect replica of the TV series of the same name. While there was never any doubt who 'Foggy' was (John Bull), a number of candidates vied for the role of 'Compo', not least Len and Mike AG.
Born in 1930, Len Huggett grew up in Stoke Newington and Edmonton amid the urban bomb sites of World War Two and the austerity years that followed. Upon leaving school at sixteen, Len joined the Central Telegraph Office in 1946, part of the Post Office, before doing two years National Service in
the RAF.Following his 'demob' in 1950, Len returned to the Post Office and soon started devoting his leisure hours to Crescent Rowing Club, which was based on the River Lee in East London. Like Cygnet, Crescent was allied to the Post Office and it was here that Len would strike up life-long friendships with the likes of John Ellis and Peter Bailey, both of whom remain Friends of Cygnet.
Given the limited boating facilities on the Lee, Crescent members were often invited to Cygnet to gain experience of rowing in Vllls on the Tidal Thames and to make up crews for the Head season. Crescent also competed regularly in the Civil Service Regatta and was a force to be reckoned with in the 1920s and 30s. Over time, ambitious young Crescent members often defected to Cygnet and Len duly followed suit in the late 1950s. The first photograph we have of a young Len Huggett afloat was taken in 1959 and shows him seated at two in a Cygnet Vlll at Kingston Regatta.
The 1960s were not an auspicious time for Cygnet and regatta victories were relatively few and far between. Nonetheless, the era was not without its high spots. Thus, in 1961 Len stroked a Junior Eight to victory at the Metropolitan Regatta and subsequent years often found him stroking Junior-Senior Vllls at local regattas, some successful, some not. Among the regattas he often used to wax lyrical about were the Welsh Harp and the Serpentine. Like so many of us, Len did his time as club captain, in 1966. His rowing 'swan song' came in 1973 when, rowing in a coxed lV with Roy Ellison, Peter Jeffs, Peter Roche and Robert Henry (cox), he won at Vesta International Veterans' Regatta, beating Barclays Bank and Frankfurt.
Although not a confirmed bachelor as such, despite having several long-term relationships Len never took the plunge and tied the knot. His friends would probably argue that 'no woman would have him' and, in truth, he was a contrarian to his core, impossible to pin down to any commitment large or small. Yet, through it all he remained a dedicated member of Cygnet, immensely kind to his friends and wholly unpredictable, often turning up out-of-the-blue at regattas far from home - St Neots was one of his favourites. And, no matter where you were, Len always knew of a hostelry just around the corner or in a far-flung country lane.
A North London boy through and through, Len lived at home in Edmonton with his parents until their demise in the late-1980s. Then, in 1993, on a whim (and allegedly after a late night with Mike Arnold-Gilliat), he ventured down to Henley-on-Thames to visit the Club's late president, Peter Sly. Sly took Len to see his late mother-in-law's house in Greys Road, Henley, which had recently gone on the market. Much to Sly's surprise, Len agreed to buy the house on the spot: it was probably the biggest decision he had ever made in his life.
Len would spend the remaining twenty four years of his life in this house; few people ever saw the interior and he rarely drew back the curtains. Nevertheless, living in Henley actually suited Len quite well. Friends often visited and there was no shortage of agreeable hostelries nearby. He, in turn, was a frequent visitor at 'Old Blades', the Sly residence, and would never tire of relating the story of how in 1977 he alerted Peter Sly to an auction of two old workmen's cottages on the Henley reach that would ultimately be reborn as 'Old Blades'.
Like so many of his generation, Len Huggett remained fiercely independent, living alone until the very end, despite having suffered several strokes. In reality, of course, the Cygnet safety net was always close at hand, with Pat, Pru and Oscar Sly increasingly alert to Len's wellbeing in later years.
For many of us, our abiding memory of Len Huggett in his twilight years will have been of him 'holding court' on the patio at 'Old Blades' on Henley Regatta Friday - he would never commit to going, but he always turned up, contrarian to the last, and invariably pronounced it to be 'a lovely old day'.
Paul Rawkins,
20th June 2017
Please feel free to share your memories of Len using the Comments box, below.
(Len is at 2 in this VIII from Kingston Regatta 1959)
Cygnet Weekly Update
20th June 2017
All,
No regattas last weekend but an lot of excellent race training on both Saturday and Sunday with Tim. The new novice squad is coming along in leaps and bounds and have moved on to racing starts and rowing at race like rating, there is no reason why you guys can't make your racing debuts before the end of the regatta season.
Our new sculling blades are painted up in the club colours and ready for use, thanks to Neil, Iain and Scott for sorting that out and we now have a brand new 80kg single scull sitting on the racks waiting for a name and number all of which is in progress.
This weekend is Richmond Regatta which is on the same course as Twickenham Regatta just up river of Richmond. We have two boats racing, our newly promoted IM3 4+ (Sam, Scott, Ian, Robin) which has a bye to the final at 13:18 against either Putney Town or Kingston and Cris in Nov1x in his heat at 8:46 against Kingston.
So this week....
Tuesday
WeightsWednesday
Richmond crews outingsThursday
Novice outing with Alan, meet at 7:00pm on the water at 7:15 - lots of blanks on the spreadsheet, please update it asap if you want to get out on the water.Squad ergo 3 x 750m at 2k pace 5 min rest, 10 min cool down
Boat loading for Richmond
Saturday
Richmond Regatta for race crews and spectatorsOutings on the Tideway will depend on how many rowers are available. So far I only have Vasil, Niall and Barry from the main squad and Kay, Mark and Leon from the novice squad. So please complete your availability asap so we can make plans.
Sunday
Main squad meet at 7:05 OTW at 7:30, focus on race training for Kingston Regatta on the 8th July.A few more points...
I will be trailering the boats to Richmond on Friday evening but will need 2 people to help me push the trailer in position and avoid trees and other obstacles when manoeuvring the trailer. Volunteers please.
Saturday
A cox is required for the novice outing at 9:30, don' be shy...Steering: We talked about learning to steer after the novice outing on Saturday, here is some essential reading in the Rowing Code which gives you the navigational rules for Tideway rowing.
Henley Friday
30th June, Old Blades Henley. You should all have heard about this from Marj, it's a great day out the top enclosure on the Royal Regatta course, well worth taking a day off work, If you've not received the details let me know.Upcoming regattas
Kingston - 8th July, St Neots - 22/23rd July, Henley Town and Visitors - 29th July.We have good numbers for St Neots and HT&V and will be putting crews together soon, We could team up with Barnes Bridge as we traditionally have done for mixed races which gives a chance for everyone to get a race.
That's all for now
Jez
