Brentford Boat Club finds new home in Dukes Meadows

Brentford Boat Club members at their new site on Saturday

Hounslow Council gives the club a 12 month lease on the old Chiswick Boathouse site

Brentford Boat Club has found a new home at Dukes Meadows in Chiswick. The club, for young people aged 12 – 18, lost their base in Brentford and most of their boats and equipment in a dispute with the owner of Brentford Community Boat House at Ferry Quays which has dragged on since before Christmas.

READ ALSO: Young rowers determined to keep Brentford Boat Club going after losing their home at Ferry Quays

Since then, the rowing community on the Thames have rallied round the club to lend them or give them boats and equipment so they can carry on offering the opportunity to their 90 mostly state school members to learn to row.

Hounslow Council has now offered them a 12 month lease on the site where Chiswick Boathouse used to be, adjacent to the footbridge under Barnes Railway Bridge. It used to bethe location of the Thames Tradesmen’s boathouse, which the Old Meadownians football club, Chiswick Rugby Club and the neighbouring hockey club also used for their changing facilities.

The slipway, cleared of brambles and Buddleia bushes

Uncovering a slipway deep in mud and weeds

Thames Tradesmen relocated to the University of London’s Boathouse on Hartington Road when the old boathouse in Dan Mason Drive was demolished, on a promise that a state of the art new boathouse would be built, and the site was used for a while by heavy plant during the construction of the pedestrian walkway, but has been empty for several years.

READ ALSO: Rowing club leaves Chiswick Boathouse while site is redeveloped

READ ALSO: New walkway underneath Barnes Railway Bridge opened

When the parents who run the Brentford Boat Club came to see the site during February half term it was covered with weeds. It took them two weekends to clear the brambles and Buddleia bushes to uncover the slipway, which was deep in mud, having not been used for boats for five years.

“Everybody mucked in – literally”, parent / trustee Miriam Morris told The Chiswick Calendar. “It was mud deep enough to lose your wellies in”.

Clearing the weeds

Rowing community rallies round

On Saturday, one of the first sunny days of spring, the ground was hard and dry. Parents were busily putting up banners around the perimeter and young athletes were taking boats out on the water. They now have 26 that belong to them – a mix of quads, octos, singles and doubles.

“People have given us boats and we have bought some. We have had to buy new launch trolleys and launch hulls,” said Miriam.

There are no buildings on the site. So far, they have racks to store the boats outside, a couple of containers and a Portaloo.

“We are very mindful of the fact that just across the pathway is a nature reserve”, parent / trustee Laura Gill told me. “We are keeping all the buddleia bushes and vegetation around the perimeter. We have just cleared enough to make it safe for the young athletes to use”.

Miriam Morris, whose daughter Sophia rows with the club

“We’ve been been amazed at the generosity of the rowing community”

As we talked a dog walker tried to access the site and was frustrated to find she could no longer cut across to the end of the pathway under the bridge.

“I think when Thames Tradesmen were here, they let people use it as a cut through, but we can’t really do that with children here”, said Laura.

The club has been amazed at the generosity of the rowing community and the way in which private schools in particular have rallied round to help them.

“We didn’t realise how much the rowing community would get behind us. It’s been a complete revelation.

“Putney High, Dulwich College, Thames Tradesmen, the Quintin Boathouse, Walton Rowing Club have all been very sympathetic to our plight and have given us boats and equipment”.

Parent trustees Laura Gill and Miriam Morris, taking a coffee break at Chiswick Rugby Club. Lauras sons Alexander and Zachary row with the club

Chiswick Rugby Club, a few metres down the road, have also been very helpful, offering use of their changing rooms. They are also the nearest place to go for a coffee or a burger.

READ ALSO: Chiswick Rugby Club celebrates growing membership, new teams and new facilities

READ ALSO: Chiswick Rugby Club gets planning permission for Padel courts

The club has a performance squad which trains seriously to take part in competitions. They have one coming up on Monday – the National Scullery Head at Dorney Lake, Eton College’s rowing centre where the 2012 Olympics rowing and canoeing events were held.

Newsflash Monday 23 March – they won Gold!

READ ALSO: Brentford Boat Club win gold in national competition

The young athletes train four nights a week on rowing machines, improving their strength and conditIoning, doing circuits and weights at the Bolder Academy in Isleworth. They take to the water at weekends.

“It has been too dark so far to go out on the river after school and so wet a lot of clubs have had to cancel training on the river”.

Brentford Boat Club was established in 2024 and has already made an impact on the national rowing circuit, taking children from beginners to winning medals at national competitions.

Getting competition ready

The club is now saving up for racing boats.

“We started off just wanting to give kids access to rowing but we’re now serious about competing. We are the underdogs, there’s no doubt. There’s a big difference between the private schools and what they can do for their kids and what we can do for ours.

“We now have enough boats to be on the water, but they’ll be very hard to win a race in, so we’re raising money for racing boats”.

They have a donate page on their website: Support the club

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