The Leander Trust Library at the Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames is proud to present one of its own to you in Chris Seward, author of In the Pink History of the Water at Westminster School, to tell us about the history of rowing at Westminster School. The evening is all in aid of the Leander Trust. A finger buffet will be served in the beautiful club house.

Please purchase tickets direct from the organisers (not Leander Club) at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/leander-trust-library-68522764073

The author, Chris Seward will take us through why he wrote the book and the painstaking process of his research for this informative book.

With written records of boating dating back to 1813, Westminster School can rightly claim to have been a prime originator of the sport of amateur rowing. Races between Westminster and Eton in the nineteenth century were sporting and social occasions that generated as great a following as the matches between Oxford and Cambridge, as well as controversy within the schools themselves.

But Westminster’s rowing history is a chequered one. Increasing urbanisation of Victorian London dislocated ‘Water’ from Lambeth Reach and forced several moves upriver. Pupil numbers slumped in the latter part of the nineteenth century. For two decades, rowing was even suspended by the Head Master.

In recent years, high-profile racing successes have again raised Westminster’s reputation on the water. This painstakingly researched history brings up to date the story of the boys, and girls, in pink, bringing to life the eventful narrative of the world’s oldest-recorded amateur boat club.

The Leander Trust is a registered charity (No. 284631) to advance the education of young people and their physical education by providing facilities – including grant awards – to enable and encourage rowing and sculling; and to help by providing facilities for recreation for those who need such facilities because of their youth, social or economic circumstances. A short presentation will be held to illustrate the benefit of the Trust.