The House Bumps This article arose out of a request from a Housemaster for a record of how many times his House had gone Head of the River. . . I will leave it to the reader's intelligence to work out which house placed such a request! The year 1926 will stand out in the history of the Boat Club as that in which bumping races were first held. In those days only three Houses existed; Eddystone, Farm and School, so each house put two IV's onto the river. These six crews rowed over a course from Warleigh Ditch to a point 50 yards beyond the Aqueduct. The rules of the competition were straightforward : The Start Guns are fired three minutes before the start, one minute before the start and at the start. The Bung Rope The cox of each boat must be holding on to the bung rope when the final gun is fired, with the bung out of the water. Bumping A Bump is made in the following ways: i. By a boat which completely passes another boat which has not finished. ii. By a boat making contact with another boat which started ahead of it in the race. Any part of the boat may be hit. Members of the crew and oars count as part of the boat, provided they are in contact with it. The Finish A boat finishes its course either by being involved in a Bump, or by completely passing the finishing post (the downstream end of the rafts). As the collection of oars in Farm House shows, blades were painted in house colours : Eddystone, cerise ; Farm, light blue; School, mauve. On this first occasion, Eddystone rowed over as Head during the standard three days of racing which were usually held at the end of February. or the beginning of March. Only three bumps were made over the three days and this, too, became pretty standard practice. Of course, the IV's used were clinker built with fixed seats and fixed pins. 1927 saw a new draw needed as Grange (green) entered the competition. They too rowed over as Head. But another tradition appears to have started that year, as recorded in The Monktonian: The Head of the River Crew was drawn triumphantly home in a chariot of honour (the old farm cart gorgeously arrayed), and the day ended with a gastronomic festival in the Dining Hall. The Bumps Supper had arrived ! From 1929 the competition settled into a format which most generations of Monktonian oarsmen would recognise. There were two Divisions, usually consisting of four, five or six boats. 'Getting On' races were instituted to bring challengers into the 2nd Division; one year Farm and School floated 8 crews out of a total of 10! By 1941 a cup had been presented for the House that went Head. Hill House (yellow) entered the competition in 1959 and Grove (dark blue) in 1971. Difficulties and weather conditions were always overcome, so that the Bumps took place sometime in the course of the year. Even when a boathouse was burned down in 1951 and 8 clinker IV's were destroyed, the Bumps were rowed in three separate divisions at separate times! Between 1933 & 35, School House was supreme, then from 1936-42, Eddystone and Farm fought it out for supremacy. In 1943 began the long reign of Farm as head; 1943-51 & 1953-55. After that, every House except Grove had a share in the spoils, with School enjoying an undefeated final fling from 1981-85. Overall, Farm went Head 29 times, School 14 times, Grange 11, Eddystone 9 and Hill twice. All good things must come to an end, and in 1990 the tradition of the House Bumps was terminated. Our stock of Fours has diminished over the years and the new boats are too valuable to risk in Bumping races. School House had the honour of being the last Head of the River. But let the final word go to R D Hole from his History of the MCS Boat Club The Inter-House Bumping races for many club members have been the highlight of the rowing year. Inevitably bumps have never been very numerous, but few who have competed in these races are ever likely to forget their feelings as a crew waited for the start with its bung rope safely aboard, or the hush that descended on the river between the three-minute gun and the starting gun - or for that matter the babel that broke loose as soon as the start had been signalled and the crowded bank began to surge along beside the crew of its fancy. Roland Symons School Archivist