OUR HISTORY
About us
Zwartkops Rowing Club History
The ZRC came into existence in 1873, the fourth of four rowing clubs founded around that time at Redhouse. It is the second oldest surviving rowing club in South Africa.
The club’s first building was a boathouse erected in a hurry to house the brand new four-oar arriving from England at a cost of £67 4s 8d, approximately £7333 or R164738 in today’s money.
The first clubhouse was rented from a member of the original committee, Mr Fred Levick, and was situated somewhere in the vicinity of 36 and 38 Towpath. In 1896 it was uprooted and re-erected in its present position. Several alterations have been carried out on the ancient structure and no doubt more will happen in the future.
In the years prior to the Anglo Boer war at the turn of the century there were no doubt numerous regattas although there is a gap in the club records for this period.
The minutes show that in 1906 Mr JC Carden, a very active Redhouse resident and one-time manager of the first Springbok team to tour the United Kingdom, suggested that the remaining boats be sold off as they had not been in use for a considerable length of time.
Very little if any rowing took place for nearly 70 years. The ZRC became a rather prestigious club for gentlemen. In the Members Bar there is a semicircle of ancient chairs, in those days covered in leather, which were reserved for the more ancient members. These revered gentlemen would have their drinks served at the correct time of day by the no doubt long-suffering waiters.
After the Second World War had ended, Redhouse was invaded by a horde of young servicemen returning from the wars and the club entered into a much more hectic phase of life.
The bar was extremely busy on Sunday afternoons, as yachtsman came off the river and golfers returned from the golf club to join with the bowlers in celebrating the end of the weekend.
In 1973 a huge effort went into celebrating the centenary of the ZRC and rowing was reintroduced and has continued in cycles of high activity followed by rather dormant periods.
However, the latest influx of rowing members and the renovation to the clubhouse as the “Rowing Hall”, and the clear intention of the Club Committee to re-establish the club as an active centre for rowing bodes well for the future.
Many hilarious tales are told of Club life. There is a narrow exterior alleyway which runs along the length of the main bar and snooker room. Members frequently placed their beer glasses on the windowsill while playing their shots. On occasion, a teenage hand would appear through the curtains and stealthily remove a glass, returning it a few seconds later minus a good “sluk”. Eventually this was noticed, and the alarm raised but the miscreants always escaped.
The Centenary celebrations in 1973 involved a huge amount of preparation and the end result was a great success. One of the unplanned events was a gigantic rugby scrum which took place in the main bar, about fifteen members a side. Nobody died, surprisingly, but the carpet tiles were torn up and a piece of one distinguished member’s scalp was pinned to the bar like a Red Indian trophy for ages afterwards.
No doubt this tradition will be continued into the future!