The Girls' VIII in France
(Two accounts - the first by the Captain, and the second by a parent)
Not having had much experience of Mr Bewick, it was with great trepidation that I went to his house to ask him whether he would be prepared to take the girls VIII to Nantes for Easter training. The ever optimistic Mr Gayner, our local coach, had tempted us through many a mutiny with this prospect; however, we could not really believe that we were actually going. True to Boat Club style the arrangements seemed rather vague to our organised female minds, but in fact we soon came to realise that this off-hand nonchalence was deceptive and belied well laid plans as we all succeeded in meeting up at the right place at the right time ready for our imminent departure towards the end of the Easter holidays.
It has to be said that we really did not know what to expect as the concept of going on holiday to train was a new one to us. I think it would be fair to say that some of us were fairly apprehensive especially with A-levels looming large. However as we all piled into the dilapidated Landrover, excitement overtook.
At first I was suspicious of Mr G's command to 'party' on the ferry, until I realised that he has an ulterior motive and that was to have a quiet drive, free of giggling girls. He succeeded in his aim as we refused to wake up for lunch the next day. It was not until half way through the week that we realised why they were so obsessed in stuffing us; we managed to polish off an enormous amount of food during our stay, and on our return to meagre school rations the girl rowers could be found in the tuck shop until we realised that we were not doing as much exercise.
After a good night's sleep and a very silent, bleary-eyed breakfast, having dreamt of sun tans, we set off for our first outing. The beauty of the Erdre was astonishing, and I think we spent more time looking at the scenery on our first outing, rather than actually rowing. This did not help the outing to go well and we realised by the look of despair on Mr. B's face that we had a lot to achieve. It would take me forever to recount our stay in detail, but there were some very special moments such as the evening outing on our own at the end of the week. To us it was evidence of our improvement from a rocky crew of eight individuals to one that could square blade through Nantes with confidence. Such an intense training period enabled us to see immediate results each day - an experience which is invaluable.
On our last day, we had a race against the university's girls' crews, which was followed by a reception in the Boat Club, which gave us an opportunity to thank Monsieur Girard for all his hospitality. Then there was our crew dinner with Mr G, which gave us a chance to sample French specialities, although the whelks did not go down too well with everyone!
On the way home, we were to have lunch in the smart restaurant on the ferry and felt most offended when the receptionist asked that surely we had come to the wrong place - it was most amusing seeing her embarrassment when Mr B turned up. It is very difficult for me to express how much fun we had and how much we achieved during our trip. We all felt very privileged to have gone, and the sense of crew spirit and solidarity was forged because of it.
It only remains for me to thank the Quayle family for coming with us to have a chaperone. Their help and generosity was much appreciated. We would also like to thank Mr Bewick and Bluefriars for arranging and subsidising the trip. Lastly, we extend out gratitude and affection to Mr Gayner who was prepared to leave his pregnant wife in order to take us. His unrelenting enthusiasm enabled us to make the most of ourselves and of the trip.
"Families are welcome to visit", it said at the bottom of JMB's letter to parents about a possible trip to Nantes for the 1st VIIIs during the Easter holidays. A rash invitation to make to a former oarsman who was much enjoying a second spurt of enthusiasm for the sport vicariously through his daughter. An expresion of tentative interest in 'visiting' quickly developed into an assumption that my wife would act as chaperone for the girls' crew and the rest of the family could tag along as camp followers. We did - and a thoroughly good time was had. JMB gave clear but friendly house rules to the girls- not more than four hours academic work a day, and the rest is fun. It's a formula that works - some very impressive A-level results were achieved!
Accommodation was in two spartan but quite comfortable houses provided by the University for visiting sports teams. JMB's car disgorged vast boxes of cornflakes, Mars Bars, chocolate by the ton, orange juice and jam, enough to keep famine at bay for a refugee camp and the food was so good (a lot of work being done by the crew themselves) that they opted to eat at home instead of sampling French cuisine some nights.
The boathouse of Nantes University boat club is an excellent facility on the bank of the Erdre, a superb stretch of water created by damming a rather insignificant stream just before it joins the Loire. Certainly more space than the Avon, and conditions could vary from flat calm to Tideway style waves but, in general, the weather was very kind. Warm-ups by rowing into the centre of Nantes between picturesque riverside houses and restaurants, dabbling against the trams, could be followed by lengthier stretches into the upper reaches, dodging other water users such as windsurfers, speedboats and the enormous floating restaurants that took less energetic visitors deeper into the French countryside. Aviron de Nantes, through their Monkon-phile coach Lionel Girard made available their launch - vital for the Erdre and a pleasant change for me, all my coaching having been from a bicycle on a Cambridge towpath. JMB and AJG shared the coaching politely ignoring out of date comments by me (old oarsmen can never resist commenting on others efforts). On the first day, one long outing was punctuated by lunch at one of the higher reaches (I was relieved I wasn't rowing back after a lazy lunch) but on most days an outing in the morning was followed by an afternoon of leisure/academic work with a second early evening outing to build up an appetite for dinner.
Extra-curricula activities were very much to the fore. These ranged from visits to the hypermarket (AJG was spotted buying baby clothes for an impending great event) to a guided tour of a vineyard where JMB and I were tempted to buy far too much Muscadet. Easter Sunday was a complete day off: some ventured to Nantes Cathedral to attend a magnificant Easter Day service (the Bishop's Sermon was challenging and uplifting and would not have been out of place in Monkton Chapel), then everyone let their hair down on the beach at La Baule with virtually everyone getting wet (by accident or design).
But this wasn't just a holiday - the rowing improved dramatically and, even if a race against one of the Nantes University women's crews was disappointing, the effect on crew morale, individual skills and overall performance was ample reward for all the hard work.
Above all, it was fun - and isn't that what rowing is all about? We're already planning to be there next year!