This came as an enormous surprise to me about twelve years ago, as my youngest son asked could he start rowing on a regular basis and I asked, Where?. While still a teacher, I had been reliably (I thought) informed that the council wouldn't allow any form of boating on this stretch of the Mersey, nice though it looked, as the field nearby had been a sewage treatment plant and rubbish tip in the past. I had wanted to teach our pupils how to paddle a kayak. Then the Warrington Rowing Club started attracting members and my son spent a good while learning the basics before growing bored as he did with most things (teenage boy!) The Club, since then, has gone from strength to strength and now has representatives at all major national and international events. They still encourage and train youngsters and have boats from single sculls up to rowing eights as well as elaborate training machines. I still think that their choice of venue is a little suspect, but have to admit that they have made a huge success story of it. Every summer, they stage the Warrington Regatta, this year's was really impressive as it lasted right through the day and many of the competitors showed amazing skills and power - future (and present) internationals. read more