Monkton Combe School Boat Club (MCSBC) is the boat club for pupils of

Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe School is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school), in the village of Monkton Combe near Bath in Somerset, England. History Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 by the Revd. Francis Pocock, a former curate ...

, established in 1878. The school maintains two boathouses, both on the River Avon. The older is situated on the edge of the Senior school grounds, sitting below the

Dundas Aqueduct Dundas Aqueduct () is an aqueduct in England which carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon (the Somerset / Wiltshire border) and the Wessex Main Line railway. The aqueduct is near Monkton Combe, Somerset, and is about south-east ...

and is used mainly for junior rowing. In 2014 the school opened a second boathouse in the nearby village of

Saltford Saltford is a large English village and civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset. It lies between the cities of Bristol and Bath, and adjoins Keynsham on the same route. Saltford Manor House (built about 11 ...

, named the ‘John Chaplin Boathouse’. The new boathouse benefits from a wider and straighter stretch of river, as well as more spacious land facilities so is used for the club’s performance rowing program. Amongst the notable results achieved by Monkton were in 1914, winning the Public Schools' Challenge Cup at Marlow Regatta; 1952 when the club were runners-up in the

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup is a rowing event at Henley Royal Regatta open to school 1st VIIIs. History The event was instituted in 1946 for public schools in the United Kingdom. It was opened to entries from overseas in 1964, an ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

; and 1983 when the club won the J18 Women’s Eights at

Schools' Head of the River Race The Schools' Head of the River Race (SHORR) is the UK's largest school-age processional (head rowing) race and is organised by Westminster School for crews aged between 14 and 18 years old. It is held in Spring, the end of the head race season ...

. MCSBC alumni row as the Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club. ''‘Bluefriars’'' is also the racing name of MSCBC.

Notable Rowers

Many MCSBC rowers have gone on to represent England and Great Britain internationally, with the following winning medals in rowing at the Olympic Games: * Alfred Mellows DFC (Silver in VIIIs at London, 1948) * Michael Lapage (Silver in VIIIs at London, 1948) *

Ran Laurie William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie (4 May 1915 – 19 September 1998) was a British physician, Olympic Games, Olympic Rowing (sport), rowing champion and gold medallist. He was the father of actor Hugh Laurie. Early life, education ...

(Gold in Coxless IIs at London, 1948) * Rowley Douglas MBE (Gold in VIIIs at Sydney, 2000) *

Alex Partridge Alexander Matthew Partridge (born 25 January 1981 in San Francisco) is a British rower, and an Olympic silver and bronze medallist. Education Partridge started rowing at Monkton Combe School, Bath, and attended Oxford Brookes University to ...

(Silver in VIIIs at Beijing, 2008) * Steve Williams OBE (Gold in Coxless IVs at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008) In addition, Matt Wells (Bronze in Double Sculls at Beijing, 2008) served as rowing master in the years after the opening of the school’s new Saltford Rowing Centre. While not a Monkton alumnus, notable rowing YouTuber and GB athlete

Cameron Buchan Cameron Buchan (born 3 December 1992) is a British rower. He competes around the world and documents his journey on his Youtube channel. He competed for British Rowing at the 2017 Poznań, Belgrade and Lucerne World Cups as well as the World Cha ...

trains from the club’s Saltford boathouse, and often races under MCSBC colours.

Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club

An alumni boat club, Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club, was founded in 1956 as an Open Boat Club (originally called Monkton Blue Friars BC) to encourage MCSBC alumni to meet socially and in boats. It was first registered with the Amateur Rowing Association in 1964 and is now registered with

British Rowing British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing (both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews represent ...

as a separate boat club to MCSBC, though still views the latter as its ‘parent club’.

Bluefriars’ Charity

In 1995 the Monkton Bluefriars Charitable Trust was created to encourage a greater level of charitable giving in order to support young rowers. The purpose of the Trust was widened to include support for students rowing in other clubs as well as Monktonians. The Trust supplies grants to help fund equipment or events for athletes who cannot afford to cover the costs themselves, depending on their financial situation. The charity's aims are twofold: * To promote the physical education and development of pupils, former pupils, staff and parents of

by encouraging and facilitating the sport of rowing through the provision of facilities, equipment and financial support, including sponsorship of individuals or crews training for and participating in competitive events where such individuals or crews represent the School or Monkton Bluefriars Boat Club. * To promote the physical education and development of students of such other educational establishments as the Trustees shall in their absolute discretion determine, by encouraging and facilitating the sport of rowing through the provision of facilities, equipment and financial support, including sponsorship of individuals or crews training for and participating in competitive events.

Bluefriars has produced an annual newsletter for members since November 1981, edited by the school's former master and rowing coach Julian Bewick.

Events

The Bluefriars Club organises the Monkton Bluefriars Small Boats Head every October, usually held from the school’s John Chaplin Boathouse at

, near

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

, and an annual dinner at the

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

References

External links