About CLSARC

Chester-le-Street Amateur Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the northeast, if not the country. It was originally formed, we believe, in the 1860s, though unfortunately we are not in possession of any early records. (We would be delighted to hear from anyone who is!) The club was previously based on a site a short way downstream from the present clubhouse, now part of Riverside Park, and moved to its present base at the Donald Owen Clarke Centre, a facility shared with Chester-le-Street Sea Cadet Corps and Chester-le-Street Rugby Club, about 1974. Around this time, however, the club unfortunately suffered from a serious decline in member numbers. It was rescued from obscurity and run almost single handedly by Bob Heywood, now the club President, for many years until about 2001. Member numbers gradually increased, and due to Bob's increasing workload and decreasing youth, since that time there has been a gradual move to a more conventional way of running the club by means of a Committee, very ably organised by the current Secretary, Andrew Bryant, and chaired by our ever youthful senior veteran, Gerry Sharpe. We like to think of ourselves as a family-orientated club and are one of the few clubs to offer a family membership fee. (For details of membership fees, go here). Most of our members are juniors from the age of about 10 upwards, though we also have a small hard core of determined veterans and a growing number of senior and veteran novices, most of whom are parents of our junior members. Our members have won (and continue to win) competitions at all levels from local primary regattas to Henley Royal Regatta, National Championship and World Junior Championship level. A number of other athletes who have now moved on and have won honours at National and World Junior level, also started their rowing careers with us. Anyone is welcome to come and try their hand, however - we can be found down at the club almost every Saturday and Sunday morning - for more details see the training page. For a map of our location, please go here.



	About Us
	Chester-le-Street Amateur Rowing Club is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the northeast, if not the country. It was originally formed, we believe, in the 1860s, though unfortunately we are not in possession of any early records. (We would be delighted to hear from anyone who is!) The club was previously based on a site a short way downstream from the present clubhouse, now part of Riverside Park, and moved to its present base at the Donald Owen Clarke Centre, a facility shared with Chester-le-Street Sea Cadet Corps and Chester-le-Street Rugby Club, about 1974. Around this time, however, the club unfortunately suffered from a serious decline in member numbers. It was rescued from obscurity and run almost single handedly by Bob Heywood, now the club President, for many years until about 2001. Member numbers gradually increased, and due to Bob's increasing workload and decreasing youth, since that time there has been a gradual move to a more conventional way of running the club by means of a Committee, very ably organised by the current Secretary, Andrew Bryant, and chaired by our ever youthful senior veteran, Gerry Sharpe. We like to think of ourselves as a family-orientated club and are one of the few clubs to offer a family membership fee. (For details of membership fees, go here). Most of our members are juniors from the age of about 10 upwards, though we also have a small hard core of determined veterans and a growing number of senior and veteran novices, most of whom are parents of our junior members. Our members have won (and continue to win) competitions at all levels from local primary regattas to Henley Royal Regatta, National Championship and World Junior Championship level. A number of other athletes who have now moved on and have won honours at National and World Junior level, also started their rowing careers with us. Anyone is welcome to come and try their hand, however - we can be found down at the club almost every Saturday and Sunday morning - for more details see the training page. For a map of our location, please go here.