Henley On Thames, Riverside c.1955
Photo ref: H73029
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Photo ref: H73029
Photo of Henley On Thames, Riverside c.1955

More about this scene

The 1870 view of the bridge is particularly interesting, for it shows the Berkshire bank before the spread of late Victorian developments that brought large houses and villas to the Berkshire hillside, and of course, before the Leander Clubhouse by the river, the 'Pink Palace', was built. We can see the Carpenters Arms pub and Thames House behind it on the right; the former was demolished to make way for the present Henley Royal Regatta headquarters building, an exciting design by Terry Farrell, which opened in 1986. The Leander Rowing Club had its origins in 1818 further downstream in Putney, where the early 19th-century sporting fraternity gambled on teams of oarsmen. It is regarded as the oldest rowing club in the world, and has an exclusive membership of exceptional oarsmen, past and present. Leander took part in the regatta from 1840 on, winning very frequently indeed; from 1890 it had an enclosure on Temple Island, at the Regatta start. The town council then offered the club a lease on the Nook Enclosure on the Berkshire bank near the bridge at £25 per annum rent, on condition that their clubhouse was built and occupied by 24 June 1898. The clubhouse, which also had bedrooms, was completed before that date. It was soon nicknamed the 'Pink Palace', and has been an important riverside feature ever since.

A Selection of Memories from Henley-on-Thames

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Henley-on-Thames

Sparked a Memory for you?

If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?

Looking on the Henley Census Info site, I found a reference to Frewins Cottages and Frewins Row. Frewin is my mother's maiden name and the family seem to have been in Henley for over 200 years. Being an unusual surname, they have been easy to track down but does anyone know where Frewins Cottages and Frewins Row were? Peter Francis
My father's mother came from Henley with strong family roots in Highmoor Cross, Shiplake and Rotherfield Grey's. My great grandparents lived at 2 Queen Street and had a huge family of 10 or 11 children in what seems today a very small house. At regatta time we always visited by train from West Drayton and had to change at Twyford. My great grandmothers brothers and sisters all lived around the town ...see more
My late grandmother came from Henley-on-Thames, and was Eleanor Flossie Arlett. I wish I knew more about her family. I do know that the Arletts had a boatyard and stored punts, I believe for hire, under the Angel on the Bridge pub. Also her father was a Queen's Waterman with a red uniform and cap. The Watermen were traditionally required to row the monarch about on the Thames whenever needed, and this was an ...see more
We lived at the Lodge at the bottom of the drive and I was allowed to start school at the age of 4 because the Sisters had known me from birth. We had the whole of the grounds to play in so it was very exciting growing up there. Great memories were of when the tractor came to cut the grass and we had the bales to play on. It was a great school and I have nothing but happy memories. I remember the Holy ...see more