The 3rd Mays Events 1998 included
a Saturday RV point at the Plough public house for alumni and current members
a reception on the back lawn of King's,
a boat naming ceremony, (President Richard Owens naming "Stonehart II")
followed by the bumps supper,
and a party (some members of a 1980s reunion),
overnight accommodation in College,
a champagne breakfast on Sunday, and
an alumni outing on the Cam.
The 3rd Mays Events - an alumnus view
Following a sterling effort from the current members of the boat club (by post and e-mail) a sizeable number of alumni turned up to take part in the Mays events. I was far too busy (reminising about old times) to count, but somewhere in the region of 30 from ones who had been at King,s in the 50's to those who had managed to hang on at King's until the early 90's. There were 2 notable contingents from 79/80 and from the 1st May Men's boat of 1988. One alumnus managed to span both these groups.
Having been lulled into a false sense of security by dry weather at the start of the day there were a number of slightly tight King's Boat Club Blazers along the towpath, along with, it has to be said an almost equal number of boatie scarves (worn by those who had listened to the forecast that morning). Tearing myself away from the towpath (by now ankle deep in mud) and using the Plough ferry to cross to the RV point I was pleased to meet a number of the Men's 2nd boat who had previously in the day bumped within 26 strokes! After discussing each stroke in some detail and then listening patiently to me explaining every stroke of the Men's 2nd Lent boat of 1987 as they rowed over on each of the 4 days, we once again braved the weather to watch the Men's 1st boat. I have to say having watched the 1st Boat along the Plough Reach, I was not confident they would manage to avoid being bumped but I was assured by the stalwarts of the 2nd Boat that their colleagues may not be pretty but they were fit and moved the boat effectively over the second half of the course. Needless to say they were correct and my pessimism was unfounded.
Following a muddy wet trip back to King's we all met again on the back lawn in a brief break in the rain, to get down to the serious business of the day - drinking Pimms and talking about old times. This important activity was curtailed by the naming of the 3 additions to the King's fleet (and rain) Paul Molyneux - 1x; Stonehart II - 2-; Hammer and Sickle - 4+.
And so to dinner, which was almost spoilt (from a relatively recent alumni's point of view) by a politically corrected Trevor Newton verse in the boat club song, that now advocated winning - not heard of in my day (1986- 1989). This however was resolved amicably by allowing us old ones to sing an incomprehensible additional verse allegedly containing the original words. Following a series of drinking fines, many of which were directed at the alumni, without the option of retaliation ( a definite improvement could be made here I think), we moved onto the Boat Club Party, which was as most are...
The following morning a very pleasant breakfast (where the fizz was almost untouched) was provided, and the more foolish of us moved off to the boathouse for an outing. This was surprisingly good since we were suffering from the combined effects of the previous night and in some cases no sporting activity for 10 years or more! A race was even attempted (Yes, more than 8 foolish alumni) in which the 4 from the Men's 1st boat of 1988 were convincingly beaten by the Ladies from 79-80! In mitigation they were aided by some of the current Men's 1st boat and we had 2 complete novices, but that could just be sour grapes of course.
Having replaced the liquids lost during this strenuous exercise at the Pike and Eel, we made our weary ways back to all corners of the realm. I for one enjoyed myself and am tempted to organise a rematch with the Ladies of 79/80 this time against the 89 Men's 1st Boat, and see if I can arrange more than 4 of the original crew.
My thanks and I am sure those of all the alumni go to the current members of the club and wish them every success. It is worth mentioning 2 in particular Katie Fleming - who seemed to be organising everything - and Matthias Hammer - who has done so much to bring us back in touch with the club.
Paul Molyneux