Return Visit
Another year, another Bluefriars head race, another group of French youngsters enchanted by their brief experience of Monkton Combe. A trip without incident, which is just the way we like it, aside from getting stuck in the car park that passes for the M27.
Upon arrival the beaming, friendly face of Gordon Reay greeted us in the quad and the children were dispatched to lessons with one or more Monkton correspondents. A slightly different arrangement from last year but which seemed to go down well.
As always, the stories of Harry Potter with 'houses' and 'prefects' suddenly come alive. This year was a little different for the young oarsmen from Nantes; they had a mole! Xavier , who rowed with them all of last year, is spending a year as a student at Monkton. After the Friday morning lessons and at each meal the young Nantais ploughed him with questions about life at the school, and were suitably amazed by his responses. Having one of their mates actually living the experience makes it all the more real. I think they almost expected him to appear with robes and a scar on his forehead; actually, Xavier has a great grandfather who really was called Harry Potter.
A number of things had the Nantais thoroughly baffled. One was where the school starts and ends. Being used to a school with a well defined area, a perimeter fence and locked gates, the open layout at Monkton integrated with the village just didn't feel like school at all. Neither did classes of 7 students and the relaxed atmosphere that this allows. Another baffling point was JMB; not a member of staff but addressed by the students as 'Sir' and eating in the school canteen; once a teacher, always a teacher!
Friday afternoon, everybody rather surprisingly wanted to just visit the city of Bath, which we duly did. Once in the town we discovered why; they had money burning holes in their pockets which just had to be spent, and duly was.
Cooked English breakfast was, as always, a new experience for them; some dared, some didn't.
Race day was fantastic; mild, dry and calm. Twelve Nantes oarsmen and one oarswoman took to the water in categories from J12 to J18, including Xavier the mole, who rowed under UNA colours as he is not yet on the MCSBC list. The entries included a Junior 4-, two Junior 1x, a J16 1x, a J15 4x+, two J15 2x, a J14 4x+ and a J12 1x. Pots were taken home by 8 of the group; for the J14s it was their first win and undoubtedly will be cherished, just as the first win is for all of us.
The juniors had spent the morning of Friday with the MCSBC captain, Toby Johnson, so there was fierce rivalry when they met on the water Saturday morning in single sculls. The battle was carried by the Nantes oarsman Carl Baines. Toby will have an opportunity for revenge during the Nantes Easter training camp, which we look forward to with great enthusiasm.
As always we are made to feel so welcome when we arrive at Monkton, it really is such a pleasure to come year after year. A big thank you to all those who help to make it happen: Mr B, Gordon Reay, housemasters, teachers, the Principal and of course the students who allow us this short stay in 'their' school. A l'année prochaine!
Tony Baines