Underfall Blog: Celebrating the Harbour Pre-1971

Yard Fest is only a few days away! Underfall Yard is proud to be serving as a fringe venue for this year’s Harbour Festival, 19-20th July. The Harbour Festival has been a key date in Bristol’s calendar since 1971, when it began as part of a successful attempt to rescue the Harbour from redevelopment. Volunteer writer Dave Duggan has been investigating the historic celebrations from before the festival as we know it…

Although the modern series of Harbour Festivals began in 1971 there’s a history of harbour regattas taking place regularly from 1830 to the early 1870s and later in the 1920s and 30s .

Press reports over this period describe the regattas as a day of competitive rowing events. There were events for single sculls, two oared boats, four oared boats, five oared whalers, wherries, a member’s cup, boats built in Bristol, punts and coracles.  The Regattas were often held on summer Mondays and lasted all day. Crowds of many thousands lined the harbour banks along the two-mile course from Princes Street Bridge past the Albion Yard to the Hotwells landing stage.

The crews included “professionals” who rowed for a living or worked in the docks and amateur members of local rowing clubs, some for “Gentlemen “and others for “lads”. These highly competitive events with prizes for winners attracted local crews and others from Cardiff, Newport and even Newcastle. The prize for the single sculls race in 1835 was a wherry to the value of £20 (equal to £3000 today!). Much betting was said to take place amongst the assembled spectators.

Between 1830 -1870 the regattas were organised by a committee of “local dignitaries” and others with maritime and shipping interests. Some were sponsored by local aristocrats and MPs and were clearly seen as “society” events.

While the pre-1971 regattas were dominated by competitive rowing it seems there other activities taking place.  These included; climbing a greasy pole, duck hunts, plank and shovel races, barrel race, life-saving demonstrations, “soot and flour” mock naval battles and a gymkhana.

From the 1870s, regattas were organised by the local rowing clubs, the Ariel and the Bristol, with events restricted to club members. During this period, the regattas were relocated from the harbour to the banks of the Avon between Conham and Netham Lock.

Regattas moved back to the Harbour in the 1920’s when the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) took the lead and the events would include naval personnel and amateur rowers.

With the post war decline in the harbour’s commercial activity and uncertainty of over its future, the regattas did not take place again until its development as a space for the cultural events, leisure and tourism activities that provide vibrant harbour life we see today.

Come and continue the summer tradition of celebrating the harbour at Yard Fest this weekend! 

This article was written by volunteer Dave Duggan and reviewed by Underfall Yard Trust. Click here to read more about the Yard’s volunteering program.