Making a splash at Regatta
Aug 13 2008 Staines News
PENTON Hook Regatta, held in Edwardian times, was not only a chance to watch avid rowers battling it out on the Thames, but an entertaining day out for all the family, writes Shae Courtney.
The event featured diving, rowing and festivities in numerous marquees.
Open to clubs affiliated with the Amateur Rowing Association, there were six races made up of gentlemen's double sculling, a scratch team, a ladies' dinghy event, a coxed mixed double, a rescue race and crews of six in a dongola race.
Guests could saunter along the banks of the Thames as the teams painfully engaged in contests with each other.
The high and fancy diving event, conducted by the Amateur Diving Association, was a highlight of the day and drew huge crowds.
Divers would launch themselves off a 20ft high platform into the river below, while onlookers cheered and sipped their Pimms and lemonade and listened to Staines Band.
The event was held until at least 1914, as a poster exists showing the regatta took place that year shortly after the outbreak of the First World War.
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