Star Rowing Club

Founded: 1960

Location: Commercial Rd, Bedford MK40 1QS

Squads: Junior, Senior, Masters

Famous Almuni: Tim Foster, Pete Mulkerrins, Miriam Taylor

Club Captain: Simon Lamb | captain@starclubrowing.co.uk

Star Rowing Club is Bedford’s premier boat club, nestled on the banks of the Great River Ouse. Home to squads ranging from juniors up to an extremely successful veterans cohort, the club caters for all abilities and ages through community-funded equipment and facilities. Founded in 1960 by former National Service members of RAF Cardington Rowing Club, it perhaps does not fit the bill of being an unknown in the rowing world – but as my childhood club, I wanted to profile it all the same.

For some time, Star has been a breeding ground for successful oarsmen and women; the most notable example of this is Olympic gold medallist Tim Foster, who first cut his teeth at Star alongside Bedford Modern School. In 2001, Miriam Taylor, a former Star Club oarswoman, won a Gold Medal in the Lightweight Coxless Pairs at the World Championships. Beyond the realms of international pedigree, Star have enjoyed significant domestic success too, culminating in a victory in the Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2012. The club have also won the Jackson Pennant at the Head of the River numerous times and have picked up strong results in landmark regattas over the past decade. On the women’s side, the club have regularly featured at Henley Women’s Regatta and the Women’s Head of the River and excel in smaller boats, due to the depth of the squad.

To quote their website, ‘Star Club is a highly successful and major centre for junior rowing in the Eastern Region’. I’d verify that claim, after spending four happy years competing there from the ages of 14 to 18. Star consistently feature at the business end of junior sculling and have been regular participants in the Fawley Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta on the men’s side. Notable alumni include William White (Coupe De La Jeunesse, 2014) and Tom Durrant (Coupe De La Jeunesse, 2010). Although the squad is perhaps not as active as it was a few years ago under Mark Bavington, it remains a crucial component of the club and a thriving hub for young people to learn our sport. Standard entry is via a number of links involving County middle and senior schools where pupils are offered rowing under ‘Dry Start’ (indoor) and ‘Wet Start’ (water) schemes known as Project Oarsome, or one of the summer rowing courses organised in partnership with Bedford Borough Council. 

A Board of Management leads the club, featuring a President (Simon White), Chairman (Dave Rainbow) and Club Captain (Dom Hawes). The club’s strategy mirrors that of most provincial clubs, in that they hope to feature regular at the Henley Royal and Women’s Regatta, put in commendable performances at the respective Men’s and Women’s Head of the Rivers and pick up medals across a range of domestic head and regatta races. When I briefly spoke with Simon, he was particularly proud of the continued work that the club are doing around diversity within our sport. “We’re currently in the process of appointing a new Board Member for Diversity and Inclusion, which we believe is fairly unusual within club rowing,” he told me. “We’ve been working for some time with an employee of the Stewards’ Charitable Trust to offer access to rowing for lower-income schools around the borough and we’re proud that work will now be reflected and promoted at management level”.

As mentioned, the club is located just outside of Bedford town centre, between the Town and Prebend Street bridges. The boathouse itself doubles as a venue for functions and has also recently become a bespoke cafe and fully licensed bar, under the name ‘Fay’s at Star’.

Rowing has become embedded in the fabric of Bedford. Home to no less than three large private schools, who all have extensive on-water operations, the local clubs sometimes have to struggle to be heard. However, a Saturday morning stroll along the Embankment in Bedford demonstrates the depth and breadth of Star Club’s fleet – it is rare to not see at least one crew with the distinctive splash of red against white. Although Bedford may not posses the most favourable reputation in some departments, the sporting ethos that runs through the town has developed into a little-known but carefully maintained clinic for high-performance rowing. Star remain at the forefront of this – a club steeped in local history but also not afraid to step beyond the Ouse to compete (and win) in the rowing heartland that is the Thames Valley.

Want to find out more about Star Rowing Club? Check out their website.

Interested in joining? Contact them here. 

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