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Cygnet
Cygnet Rowing Club
on the Tideway since 1890
CSSC Sports and Leisure

Len Hoskins

31st August 2024

Len Hoskins 1931 – 2024

It is with sadness that we report the death of Len Hoskins on the 28th July.

Born on 18th November 1931, Len was a post office engineer when he joined Cygnet RC on 13th September 1953, the same day as Peter Roche. Both Len and Peter had previous rowing experience and they were part of a significant influx of new members. Indeed, the club would enter four crews for that year’s HoRR. 

In retrospect, 1953 would prove to be a turning point in Cygnet’s post-war fortunes on the water and Len Hoskins would be an important part of that story. Len rowed at seven in a Junior/Junior Senior Vlll that made its debut in 1954 winning at Richmond & Twickenham, Horseferry, Willesden and Kingston regattas. By all accounts, they were a very fast crew, putting in times comparable to some Thames Cup crews that had competed at Henley Regatta a few weeks previously, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the Daily Telegraph’s rowing correspondent. Hoskins was to enjoy one more Vllls win at Maidenhead in 1955. Thereafter, his name disappears from the regatta roll call. Nonetheless, he was one of a number of highly proficient oarsmen who put Cygnet back on the map in the post-war era.

An amusing tale is told of the crew’s win at Richmond and Twickenham in 1954. As winners, the club took possession of the Twickenham Cup, a magnificent piece of silverware housed in a wooden crate of some dimensions. During the course of the evening’s celebrations, John Bull, the coach of the successful crew, thought it prudent to remove the cup to a member’s house overnight for safekeeping. Another members’ ancient Riley was called into service and three of them staggered up several flights of stairs to a flat in Fulham with the crate, blissfully unaware that the pot was still doing the rounds at closing time in a pub at Richmond.

It was at Cygnet that Len also met his wife-to-be, Eve Bailey, who was then a member of St Georges Ladies RC. They recalled very happy memories of their time rowing to their children, who remember accompanying their parents to Henley regatta. Eve passed away in 2021


Len's family have requested that, rather than flowers, donations should be made to Cygnet Rowing Club in his memory. Donations can be made online here or please contact the Treasurer for details of donations by cheque or Bank Transfer.

LenHoskins1

Len: top row, third from left

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Len: front row, far right

Author: Neil Pickford

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