A ROWING club will celebrate its 150th anniversary with its annual regatta.

Poole Amateur Rowing Club was formed in 1873 and will mark the milestone on Saturday, July 22.

Club captain, Pete Jacobs, described the story of how the club came to be in existence.

“A couple of guys who were interested in rowing, from what I can tell, just waltzed down the high street in Poole and accosted retailers and people who worked on the high street and got them to donate,” Pete said.

“They raised at that time £25.13s, with that they went off and bought a couple of boats. A couple of four oared galleys and a single skiff and away they went.”

Bournemouth Echo: Poole Amateur Rowing Club's double Senior Championship crew of 1994/95 after winning at Southampton

The club has been active through local and world events, including both world wars. It moved to its current boathouse in the 1940s, having been based at Newman’s boatyard, near where Sunseeker now have their buildings.

Pete, who is writing a book on the club’s history, said he has the minutes of every single AGM meeting held at the club, dating back to the very first in 1873.

He said the club has continued to grow and is looking for new, larger premises so it can thrive.

“We’ve continued to grow since then, we’ve probably got some of our best membership numbers in our history. We’ve got 120 rowers now,” Pete said.

“There’s no doubt we’ve exceeded what we can do with our little boat house next to the old lifting bridge.

“We’re hoping for a new larger location where we can flourish and grow the club for the people of the town.”

Bournemouth Echo: Poole Amateur Rowing Club's annual trip to the Haven in the 1890s, where the club captain would

The club has been hugely involved in competition through its history, scooping regional, national and international championships regularly.

It is ‘very much a family club,’ Pete said, with generations of families involved.

The club’s regatta promises to be ‘one of the biggest on the south coast’ and will be held at Hamworthy Park.

It will see up to 500 rowers compete across 40 races on the day.

A celebration of the anniversary will be held at the club afterwards, and a ball will be held on August 4 at Lytchett Rugby Club for the whole club community to mark the occasion.