The Boathouse
Silverfir Place
Gorbals
Glasgow
G5
The boathouse, which was officially opened by the Lord Provost of Glasgow in May 1997, is located in Silverfir Place on the south bank of the River Clyde beside Hutchesontown Bowling Club on Caledonia Rd/Rutherglen Rd just along from Shawfield Stadium. Silverfir Place is accessed from Cumberland St and Silverfir Court.
Our aims and objectives
What we do
Glasgow Rowing Club was formed on 4 December 1983 by the amalgamation
of Glasgow Argonauts Boat Club (founded in 1924) and City of Glasgow Rowing
Club (founded in 1965 - formerly The Printers Rowing Club which was founded
in the early 1900s). All levels of participation are welcomed - from the casual
participant wishing a leisurely row on the river in the good weather, to the
very serious who go all the way to National Representation. Successes over the
past years include Scottish and British champions at various categories in both
Men's and Women's events, at both Junior and Senior level. Many of these champions
were also selected to row for Scotland at various international regattas.
Image: Griff Scobbie (Regional Manager (Scotland) Livingwell Health Clubs), Lord Provost Alex Mosson (Patron GRC), Paul Mackie (Secretary GRC), and Ronnie Goldie (President GRC) at recent naming ceremony of "Glasgow 2000", the club's new eight on 20 August 2000.
We presently have junior member who came through our junior programme who not only were selected for the GB team for the 2000 European Championships (a first in itself) but one of them won a bronze medal. As well at that the junior coach was also selected to be a coach with the GB squad. Junior members and senior members were also selected to row for Scotland at the Home International Regatta in Chent in Belgium in July and prior to that the club came back from the Scottish National Championships at Strathclyde Park with 9 Scottish Championships titles.
We also have a Commonwealth silver and bronze medallist who came through our junior system - he is presently a student - who was also in a GB winning crew at the 1999 London Head of the River Race. He was the first ever Scot to win the race. This race - over the course of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in reverse - has 420 crews in eights boats racing at 10-second intervals chasing each other down the course.
Glasgow Rowing Club - after having been sited in Glasgow Green
across the river - made a strategic decision to build it's Clubhouse and its
future within the Gorbals to become an integral part of a close-knit community.
This is not only a long-term commitment - it is a lifetime commitment.
Glasgow Rowing Club fully appreciates the tremendous natural asset which is on our doorstep - the River Clyde. We wish to promote this within the City of Glasgow and the Gorbals community and to let others share in this very under-valued facility.
Image: Lord Provost Alex Mosson carries out the boat - naming ceremony at the Braehead Sponsored Indoor Row on 20 August 2000.
Membership is open to anyone who wishes to try the sport of rowing - present membership ages range from 8 to 80 years old. Membership categories and annual subscriptions are as below. No joining fee is charged. New participants are given the opportunity to try the sport a few times before a subscription is required.
Annual subscriptions for 2003 are as follows:
| Senior | £130.00 |
| Junior under 18 | £ 60.00 |
| Junior under 16 | £ 45.00 |
| Student | £ 60.00 |
| Unemployed | £ 45.00 |
| Glasgow Schools | £ 45.00 |
| Country | £ 45.00 |
| Associate | £ 65.00 |
Although Rowing is presented through the media as an up-market
sport, we are far removed from that image. We have no paid employees, with the
Club totally run by the members in their spare time. Even though the equipment
is expensive - a coxed four boat costs approx £6,000 with a single oar costing
over £200 - membership subscriptions are kept as low as possible through various
fund-raising events throughout the year e.g. running three regattas a year,
race nights, raffles, sponsored rows etc. All monies made through these ventures
are put back into the Club funds for new equipment etc.
To achieve what we have so far has been the end result of a lot of hard work by the volunteers who run the Club for the love of the sport. Funding has been achieved for the new boathouse and for new equipment through various events:
Youth
Glasgow Rowing Club is part of
the Gorbals Youth Providers Forum and has set up or supported the following
events during the summer:
The Club organised and ran a very successful Gorbals Youth Groups Open Day on 13 June when youngsters from 5 local groups were given full instruction in rowing and were taken out rowing on the River Clyde.
An on-land demonstration was also set up for the Gorbals Youth Person Information Evening in the St Francis Centre on 15 August where the Club provided expert tuition on the use of two rowing machines provided for the evening. This proved extremely popular with those attending.
Image: JoeDonnelly and Stephen Robertson from the Gorbals Youth Forum try out rowing with Club Secretary Paul Mackie at the recent Gorbals Youth Groups Open Day organised by Glasgow Rowing Club.
The Club was also invited to attend the SEAL Community Health Open Day in St Francis Centre on 2 September and took along a rowing machine for people to try. This again proved very popular and was not restricted to just youngsters - many "mature" people gave it a try. This was so popular that a queue even formed with a waiting time - in good old Disney tradition!
We have had 22 new people join
the Club since May - with all receiving expert tuition and coaching starting
from scratch. Anyone can have a go - and the only time you'll get wet is
if its raining!
Not only do we promote the Gorbals but also the whole of the City of Glasgow - the Club has people from all over the world who visit our web site and ask if they can come for a row when they are in the city - whether its for a few days, a few weeks or a couple of years. We presently have people from Holland, Ontario, San Francisco and Quebec and quite a few visitors from England.
Image: Paul Mackie (ClubSecretary) gives tuition to one of over 200 youngsters who tried the rowing machines at the Braehead Sponsored Indoor Row in August. On Display was a single sculling boat and also the new eight.
Available times for rowing / training:
| Winter | Summer |
| Tue - 5:30 to 8.00pm | |
| Wed - 5.30 to 8.00pm | Wed - 5.30 to 8.00pm |
| Sat - 9.00 to 1.00pm | Sat - 8.00 to 4.00pm |
| Sun - 10.15 to 1.00pm | Sun - 8:00 to 1.00pm |
Group meets:
The Club is open most evenings and Saturday all day and Sunday morning. Regattas are held on a Saturday with some regattas on a Sunday.
By arrangement, beginners are normally taught on Saturdays at 12:00pm and Wednesdays at 6:00pm.
Paul Mackie (Club Secretary)
Telephone: 0141 644 5942
Ronnie Goldie (Club President)
Telephone: 0141 886 3878
E-mail: info@glasgowrowingclub.org
Website www.glasgowrowingclub.org
Adelphi Centre, 12 Commercial Road, Glasgow G5 0PQ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 141 429 6314 Fax: +44 0141 429 2649
e-mail: webmaster@gsera.org.uk
home page: www.gorbalslive.org.uk