Grosvenor Rowing Club

Grosvenor Rowing Club
Image showing the rowing club's blade colours
Motto Virtus non stemma
Location Groves, Chester, England
Home water River Dee
Founded 1869 (1869)
Affiliations British Rowing
Website grosvenor-rowingclub.org.uk

Grosvenor Rowing Club is based on the Groves in Chester. It rows on the River Dee and has around 30 km of rowable river, much of which straight and broad.

The club colours are dark blue and gold, the blades and boats being dark blue and orange.

History

View of the Dee from the famous Grosvenor Bridge in Chester, looking down-river towards Curzon Park. Taken in Spring at high tide

Grosvenor /ˈɡroʊvnər/ [1] or /ˈɡroʊvənʊər/ is named in honour of the Grosvenor family who own the land on which the club is built. The club names its eights (8+s) after members of the family. The club was formed in 1869 to enable the less fortunate people of Chester to take up the sport of rowing. The club's crest states "Virtus non stemma" which translates to "Valor, not garland" or "Virtue, not pedigree" derived from the motto of the Duke of Westminster's Eaton Hall home (hist. Earl Grosvenor) which is their surname, which is further up the Dee. The motto also sums up the open membership of the club since its inauguration; originally contrasting to the closed membership of the close by Royal Chester Rowing Club which was traditionally home to the alumni of the "public" independent King's School, Chester. Today the rivalry is sporting rather than based on social class as both clubs are completely open membership policies.

Recent results

In 2014 Grosvenor's senior women's intermediate club fours won The Lester Trophy at Henley Women's Regatta.[2]

Grosvenor's men's 1st VIII/8+ finished 14th at the 2008 Head of the River Race after starting 153rd, beaten narrowly to the Jackson Trophy (One of three regional cups, namely for British non-tideway, non-Thames basin clubs) by 5 seconds by Agecroft Rowing Club, Manchester who finished 11th. The latter boat was seeded in 37th place which can provide flatter water.

In 2008 the men's 1st 8+ reached the quarter finals of the Thames Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta emulating the club's successes at the 2007 regatta.

In 2007 Grosvenor's Coxless Four (4-) which reached the semi-finals at Henley Royal Regatta in the Wyfold Challenge Cup. They beat London 'D', Reading and Sydney before knocked out by eventual winners 1829 Boat Club which is the name used for composites of CUBC and OUBC alumni clubs/divisions Crabtree BC and Bosporos RC.

See also

British Rowing, the governing body.

References

  1. ↑ Wells, John C. (2000). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. 2nd ed. Longman. ISBN 0-582-36468-X.
  2. ↑ "Rowing - Grosvenor RC Celebrating" The Chester Chronicle, June 2014

External links

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