Oxford Bumps - Glossary

Explanation of various terms used in the Notes on Oxford bumps races, as well as index of references to each College.
Balliol
Torpids Notes: 1838 1839 1858-1860 1870 1873-1875 1878 1879 1881 1889 1896-1914 1919 1921 1922 1924-1935 1937 1938 1940 1948 1951 1953-1962 1964-1966 1968-1976 1978-1981 1984 1987 1989 1990 1992 1994-1996 2001 2004-2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1825 1836-1842 1844 1851 1855 1857 1859 1860 1868 1873 1878 1879 1888 1890-1914 1919 1920 1922 1925-1939 1941 1946-1959 1961-1968 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1981 1982 1986 1988-1990 1993-1998 2000 2001 2003 2005-2008

Barges
Prior to the construction of the boathouses, College boat clubs used barges as their base, containing club rooms and, often, a raft alongside. These barges were permanently moored in an almost continuous line from the Head of the River to the top of the Green Bank. The [thames.me.uk] web-page has a map from the 1935 Eights programme showing the locations. The first College boathouse was built by Christ Church in 1937.
See also articles on barges in The Times from: [5 June 1956], [2 June 1958]
and [28 May 1959] which comments on three newly-constructed boathouses coming into use.

Blades
Illuminated oars traditionally awarded to crews which gain a bump each day of racing or finish Head of the River.

Brasenose
Torpids Notes: 1838 1839 1845 1846 1852 1853 1858 1860 1861 1865 1866 1870 1874 1875 1879 1881 1886-1894 1896-1914 1921 1922 1924 1925-1929 1931-1934 1937-1939 1940 1946 1948 1955-1958 1960-1962 1966 1974-1976 1980 1981 1984 1985 1987-1997 2001 2003 2004
Eights Notes: 1815 1817 1822 1829 1833 1835 1836 1838-1841 1843-1848 1852-1857 1865-1868 1878 1879 1888 1890-1914 1919-1922 1924-1939 1946 1947 1950-1953 1955 1956 1958-1963 1965-1970 1982 1983 1987-2001 2015

Bungline
A length of rope attached to the bank to mark the starting position for each boat. The cox takes hold of the line and only releases on the 'start' gun.
First introduced in 1839.
Torpids Notes: 1846 1849 1859 1871 1886
Eights Notes: 1840 1848 1852 1864 1881 1896

Christ Church
Torpids Notes: 1838 1839 1843 1847 1849 1850 1854 1858 1878 1881 1886 1889 1893 1896-1914 1919-1939 1946-1952 1955-1962 1964-1976 1978-1980 1984-1997 2003-2006 2008 2009
Eights Notes: 1817 1824-1826 1828-1831 1833-1838 1840 1842 1844 1847-1850 1857 1859 1864 1865 1867 1878 1883 1888 1890-1914 1919-1939 1946-1951 1953-1978 1981-1998 2000 2001 2003 2005-2007 2009

Clasper's Boathouse
Just upstream of the Gut, on the site of the current Long Bridges Boathouse
Eights 1878 1899 1903

Corpus Christi
Torpids Notes: 1858 1861 1873 1876 1879 1883 1884 1886 1895-1914 1919 1922 1927 1929-1935 1938-1940 1954 1955 1961 1964 1966-1969 1972 1974 1976
Eights Notes: 1834 1836 1842 1845 1861 1866 1868 1873 1874 1878 1882 1883 1886 1888 1890-1914 1919 1922-1924 1929 1933 1935-1939 1946 1948-1950 1956 1957 1961 1964 1965 1967

The Crossing
The point just downstream of Boathouse Island where the racing line crosses the river from the (left) Green Bank to the (right) towpath side.

Donnington Bridge
A road bridge across the Isis, just above the starting bunglines, constructed in 1963 (replacing the concrete footbridge).

Drownings
1845, 1846, 1889, 1957.

Exeter
Torpids Notes: 1838-1840 1846 1849 1850 1854-1861 1863 1865-1870 1873 1878 1886 1889 1891 1896-1914 1919 1922 1926 1928 1930-1934 1936-1938 1946-1948 1951 1956-1958 1962 1964 1966 1972 1975 1976 1978-1982 1984 1985 1987 1988 1991 1993 1996-2001 2003-2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1824 1827 1831 1833 1836-1838 1843 1846 1857 1858 1865 1868 1869 1873 1878 1882-1884 1888 1890-1914 1920 1922 1925 1927-1933 1935-1939 1946 1947 1949-1952 1954 1956-1958 1961 1963-1968 1971 1974 1978 1981 1982 1988 1990 1992 1995 1997 1999-2001 2003 2005

Ferry (also the Corporation Ferry or Free Ferry)
A free punt ferry across the Thames close to the site of the current Donnington Bridge. Started operating in 1897 and finished in 1937 when footbridge was built. More information on [www.southoxford.org]. No mention in Sherwood (1900) but first mentioned in The Times 19 Feb 1897.

Freewater Stone (also Freshwater Stone)
A stone marker on the towpath in the Gut (originally a boundary marker for the limits of Oxford [no.8 in The Municipal Boundary of Oxford until 1886]

Freshmen's River
The inlet on the right, approaching the Gut upstream. Possibly a former mouth of the Cherwell. [Thames Me]

Green Bank
The wide stretch of river extending approx 500m from the Cherwell New Cut downstream to the Gut. Presumably so-called because of the dense vegetation all along the left bank of the river.

Green Barge
Salter's 'Green Barge', formerly King's Barge, marking the original finish line for the course.

Green-Templeton
Eights Notes: 2009

Haystacks Corner
The bend in the river about 300m above Iffley Lock.

Hertford
Torpids Notes: 1876 1879 1880 1882 1887 1894 1896-1914 1919 1929 1931 1934 1937 1940 1948 1950 1951 1954-1962 1965-1967 1974 1976 1978 1979 1981 1982 1987-1992 1994 2004-2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1838 1876 1877 1881 1888 1890-1914 1922 1927-1931 1933 1934 1936-1938 1953 1954 1956-1966 1969 1987-1989 1994 1998 2000 2001 2005 2006 2007

Green Barges
Referred to in 1888

Iffley Reach
The stretch of river below the Gut.
Referred to in 1888 1893 1894 1896

Jesus
Torpids Notes: 1850 1887 1896-1914 1920 1922 1930-1934 1936 1937 1939 1940 1946-1948 1950 1951 1955 1956 1961 1966 1967 1969 1972 1973 1975 1976 1978-1984 1987 1988 1992 1993 1997 2000
Eights Notes: 1815 1822 1826 1836-1838 1844 1852 1854 1859 1881 1888 1890-1914 1920-1923 1926 1929 1930 1932-1938 1943 1948-1952 1954-1963 1965 1966 1968 1970 1971 1973 1974 1981 1982 1989-1991 1993 1996-1998 2000 2006 2015

Keble
Torpids Notes: 1871 1875 1878 1881 1882 1896-1914 1920 1922 1925 1926 1930-1935 1937-1939 1940 1947 1949 1950 1953 1955-1957 1960-1962 1964-1967 1970-1976 1978-1990 1993 1997 2002 2005
Eights Notes: 1871 1873 1874 1878 1883 1888 1890-1914 1919 1921-1923 1926-1933 1935 1936 1939 1948 1949 1956 1958-1978 1980-1983 1986-1989 1991 1993-1997 2000 2001 2003 2006 2007

King's Barge
Shown on far bank in [Image] from 1822.
From Sherwood (1900), writing of the origins of racing c.1815
The flags indicating the positions of the boats were hoisted on King's (now Salter's) Barge, which was built about the time the racing first began. As this barge was also the winning post it was customary to 'cheer the colours' as the new order was run up. There were no college barges in those days; the men changed in King's Barge, or in a room in the Boat House Tavern.

Knollys
Oxford University Boat Races, by C. C. Knollys, 1873.

Lady Margaret Hall
Torpids Notes: 1978 1982-1984 1986-1992 1994 1995 1997 1999 2003 2004
Eights Notes: 1969 1976 1978 1990 1991 1993-1999 2003

Launch Works
(referred to in Eights 1924, Torpids 1930, 1932) The Salter's boatyard downstream of Donnington Bridge

Linacre
Torpids Notes: 1971 1984
Eights Notes: 1969 1971 1973 1981 1990 1992 1994

Lincoln
Torpids Notes: 1847 1850 1853 1858 1872 1873 1887 1891 1896-1914 1919 1920 1924 1928-1931 1936 1947 1951 1952 1954 1955 1959 1960 1962 1964-1967 1970 1973-1976 1978-1980 1982-1985 1987 1990 1992 1994-1998 2001 2005 2006
Eights Notes: 1840-1844 1858 1867 1884 1886-1888 1890-1914 1920-1922 1924 1927-19291931-1934 1937 1939 1948 1950 1954-1966 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1981 1982 1984-1988 1990 1991 1995 1996 1998 2000-2002 2010

Long Bridges
A pair of towpath bridges just upstream of the Gut. Rebuilt in 1885, according to Sherwood (p95).
First mentioned in Eights 1895

Manchester
Torpids Notes: 1994
Eights Notes: 1971 1993

Magdalen Hall
Merged into Hertford College in 1874.
Torpids Notes: 1850 1876 1901 1906 1908
Eights Notes: 1838 1839 1842 1844 1846 1851 1871 1873

Magdalen
Torpids Notes: 1860 1866 1873 1879 1880 1891 1892 1896-1914 1919-1925 1927-1939 1947 1948 1950 1951 1953-1957 1959-1962 1964-1968 1971 1973 1975 1976 1980 1987-1992 1996-1998 2001 2003-2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1838 1842 1845 1846 1859 1865 1867 1868 1870 1873 1878-1880 1886 1888 1890-1914 1919-1939 1941 1945 1946 1947 1949-1967 1973-1977 1981 1982 1983 1986-1988 1990 1992-2007

Mansfield
Torpids Notes: 1965 1966 1975 1976 1978 1993
Eights Notes: 1965 1987

Merton
Torpids Notes: 1845 1880 1883 1884 1887 1894 1896-1914 1919 1920 1923-1939 1940 1947 1948 1951-1960 1966 1967 1976 1978 1981 1987 1996 1997 1999 2001-2005
Eights Notes: 1838 1839 1842 1867 1873 1877 1884 1886 1888 1890-1914 1919-1922 1925-1928 1930-1933 1935 1936 1939 1946-1948 1950-1968 1970 1971 1976-1978 1982 1994 1996 1999-2003 2005

Multilane Racing
Until 1960, Torpids had been run under the same rules as Eights (apart from more restrictive eligibility criteria). However, from 1960 until 1979 Torpids was run as a 'multilane' event, the arguments being that
  • it encouraged crews to train for longer distance racing,
  • it allowed better crews to progress more quickly (Torpids having been run as a 6-day event until 1956), and
  • it provided more of a spectacle from the boathouses.
The essential points of the multilane rules are:
  • After the start, crews split alternately into two lanes and, after the Gut, into 3 lanes (reduced to 2 from 1969).
  • Places could be gained either by finishing ahead of crews in other lanes or by bumping crews in your own lane, but bumping was only allowed above the Gut (in practice bumps became the exception)
  • Crews which were bumped had to continue racing
  • Instead of Sandwich Boats, the division boundaries were moved down one place each day, with Div I expanding and the lowest division contracting. So the crew which finished top of a division would race at the bottom of the next division on the following day.
Further points:
  • Buoys were used to mark the lanes with stiff penalties (eg down 3 places) for crews passing the wrong side of a buoy.
  • It was realised that the crew racing on the towpath ('Berkshire') station had an advantage and, in three-lane racing, that the centre crew had the biggest disadvantage. The use of 'sliding divisions' ensured that, apart from Div I, any crew maintaining its position would have a different lane assignment from one day to the next. However, after the first year, when S.E.H. appeared to deliberately delay taking the 1960 headship until the last day, it was also decided to alter the Div I lane assignments from day to day.
  • After the start the odd-numbered boats moved to the far side with even numbered boats remaining on the towpath side.
  • The split after the Gut from two to three lanes could not be done regularly (eg boats 1 and 4 in one lane, 2 and 5 in the next, 3 and 6 in the last) since this would require boats crossing in front of each other. Instead boats 2 and 6 remained on the towpath side, 3 and 5 remained on the far side, and 1 and 4 took the middle lane. So it was much easier for boat 5 to bump 3 than for 6 to bump 2. For boat 7 onwards presumably the pattern repeated.
  • Another consequence of the 'sliding divisions' meant that, having reached the bottom of a division, a boat could then only drop a maximum of one place per day, unless they incurred further penalties

New Bridge (also Concrete Bridge)
A footbridge constructed over the Thames in 1937, later replaced by Donnington Bridge.

New College
Torpids Notes: 1866 1871 1880-1883 1889 1891 1896-1914 1919-1926 1928-1939 1947-1960 1962 1964-1967 1969-1972 1974-1976 1978-1980 1982 1987-1998 2001-2006 2008 2009
Eights Notes: 1840 1842 1864 1870 1875 1877 1878 1882 1887 1888 1890-1914 1919-1923 1925-1939 1941 1945-1956 1958-1966 1968 1969 1975 1977 1978 1981-1991 1993-2007

New Cut
The branch of the Cherwell entering the Thames at the downstream end of Boathouse island, prior to which 'Boathouse island' was a peninsula attached to Aston's Eyot (ie the land behind the Green Bank). According to (Sherwood, p.95),
The New Cut was made in 1884, and for some years the Boat Club [OUBC] threw a bridge across it during the Eights. This was used, however, so largely by nursemaids and children, who came not to see the races, but to wander all over the field picking flowers, and ran us up tremendous bills for damage to grass, and by people who crowded the whole bank and prevented the coaches from getting at their crews, that we were obliged to give it up.
In 1959 there is a reference to the bridge being removed again, having been in place for the previous few years.

New Inn Hall
Merged into Balliol College in 1887.
Eights Notes: 1839 1842

Oriel
Torpids Notes: 1839 1845 1854 1861 1870 1872-1874 1881 1886 1891 1896-1914 1919 1920 1931-1939 1940 1950 1951 1953-1955 1958-1962 1964-1976 1978-2009
Eights Notes: 1828 1836 1842 1844 1845 1847 1849 1850 1857 1861 1867 1869 1870 1884 1888 1890-1914 1919 1920 1922 1925-1927 1929 1931 1932-1939 1946 1947 1950-1955 1957-1978 1980-2007

Osler House
Combined with Green College in 1996 to row as Osler-Green.
Torpids Notes: 1969 1970 1971 1975 1978 1980 1982-1999 2001 2002 2004 2005 2008
Eights Notes: 1968 1969 1973 1982 1984-2003 2007

OUBC Boathouse
The OUBC Boathouse was situated on the towpath on the site of the current University College Boathouse. It was built in 1882 and burned down in 1999.

Overbump
Under Eights rules, and Torpids until 1960, an 'overbump' was when a crew bumped the boat which started three places ahead, the intervening two crews having bumped out. In Sherwood these are referred to as a 'bump over two places'. The term 'over-bump' first appears in The Times coverage of Eights on 21 May 1909. These were quite rare before WWII, occurring in Eights only in the years Eights 1847, 1859, 1869, 1873 (twice) 1883 1903 1908 (twice) 1909 1935 1938 1939 For some reason, overbumps were even rarer in Torpids, occuring only in 1852, 1886, 1933, 1936(twice) 1937(twice)
Double Overbump
A 'double overbump' is when a crew bumps the boat which started five places ahead, the four intervening crews having bumped out, either as 2 pairs of conventional bumps or, less commonly, as a bump and overbump. The first double overbump occurred in the 1947 Eights (New College III) and the term 'double over bump' appears in The Times of Friday, 23rd May 1947. Subsequently in Eights in 1952 1955, 1968, 1975, 1986, 1990, 1996, 2004, 2005 2007 2013 (by GTC women) 2015 2016 2017 (twice) 2018 (twice).
Triple Overbump
When a crew catches the boat which started seven places ahead. This was achieved in Eights in 2005 by St John's Women's 2nd Eight, Eights 2012 by Jesus Men's 2nd Eight

Pembroke
Torpids Notes: 1842 1843 1845 1847 1849 1855 1858 1867 1870 1873 1877-1879 1886 1891 1896-1905 1907-1914 1920 1922 1923 1929 1930 1932 1933 1936-1939 1940 1954 1955 1957-1960 1962 1964-1967 1969-1973 1975 1976 1978 1981 1982 1984-2003 2006-2009
Eights Notes: 1842 1844 1847-1849 1856 1857 1864 1872 1878 1883 1888 1890-1914 1919 1920 1923 1926-1933 1936-1939 1946 1947 1951 1954-1961 1963-1966 1968 1969 1971 1978 1981 1984 1986-2007

Pink Post
Referred to in Torpids 1958 and Eights 1959. Possibly the same as the Red Post.

Queen's
Torpids Notes: 1845 1860 1870 1872-1875 1880 1887 1894 1896-1914 1919-1923 1926-1928 1931-1934 1936 1939 1946 1947 1951 1954-1960 1962 1964 1966 1967 1970-1976 1979 1980 1982 1984 1985 1993 1994 1996 1997 2003-2008
Eights Notes: 1827 1833 1837 1838 1841 1843 1847 1862 1873 1877 1881 1884 1888 1890-1914 1919-1921 1926-1928 1930-1932 1934 1935 1937-1939 1945 1949 1951-1966 1969 1971 1973 1974 1981 1988 1991 1994 1997 1998 2003-2007

Randall's Bridge
Yhe towpath bridge just above the finishing line, referred to in both the The Times and The Daily Telegraph reports of 20 May 1932

Red Post
A marker shown on Woodgate's map of the Oxford course as situated near the top of the Green Bank.

Regent's Park
Torpids Notes: 1978 1992
Eights Notes: 1970 1992

Rough's Boathouse
On the site of the current Long Bridges boathouse.
Established some time during the 1880s (first reference in The Times coverage of bumps racing is in 1889).
More information on the Rough family on [www.southoxford.org]

Rowing On
Qualifying races for Torpids and Eights

Salter's Raft
Presumably moored alongside Salter's Green Barge at the finish line.

Sandwich Boat
The boat which finishes head of a division rows again at the foot of the next highest division immediately afterwards (allowing for any interspersed divisions of the opposite sex). Term used in article from The Times in 1878

St Anne's
Torpids Notes: 1978 1980 1982 1984 1985 2005 2007
Eights Notes: 1977 1978 1985 1986 1989 1990 1994 1996-1998 2001 2003

St Antony's
Torpids Notes: 1982 1987
Eights Notes: 1982 1992-1994 2001

St Benet's Hall
Torpids Notes: 1978 1984 1985
Eights Notes: 1977 1993 2001

St Catherine's
Torpids Notes: 1876 1883 1891 1896 1898 1901 1903-1911 1913-1914 1919-1922 1928 1930-1932 1934 1937 1938 1940 1947 1948 1950 1951 1955-1958 1961 1962 1964-1966 1971 1973-1976 1978 1982 1984-1992 1995-1999 2001 2003 2004 2006 2008 2009
Eights Notes: 1876 1888 1890-1911 1913-1914 1919-1920 1922 1923 1925 1926 1928 1929 1930 1934 1935 1937-1939 1947 1948 1950 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1971 1975 1977 1982 1988 1993-2002 2004-2006

St Edmund Hall
Torpids Notes: 1901 1902 1907 1910-1914 1919-1921 1927 1931 1933-1935 1937-1940 1947 1949 1950 1952-1955 1957-1962 1964-1968 1970-1976 1978 1980 1982-1990 1992-1995 1997 1999 2004-2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1842 1861 1862 1864 1869 1870-1872 1888 1891-1895 1897 1902 1908-1914 1919 1920 1926-1928 1930 1932 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1945 1946 1947 1950 1954 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1977 1978 1980 1981 1982 1984 1987-1990 1993-1999 2001 2002 2006-2009

St Hilda's
Torpids Notes: 1979-1984 1987 1992 1994 1998 2006 2008
Eights Notes 1969 1971 1978 1981 1985-1989 1991 1993-1995 1997 1998 2002 2003

St Hugh's'
Torpids Notes: 1979 1980 1984-1989 1992 2005 2006
Eights Notes: 1974 1975 1978 1981 1982 1983 1984 1986-1991 1996 2001 2010
Torpids Notes: 1984 1985 1986 1987

St John's
Torpids Notes: 1840 1850 1889 1891 1896 1898-1914 1919-1921 1923-1925 1927 1928 1931-1939 1946 1947 1950 1951 1955 1957-1962 1964-1971 1974 1976 1978 1987 1992 1996 1998
Eights Notes: 1830 1836 1841 1842 1844 1850 1868 1878 1883 1888 1890-1914 1919-1921 1923 1927-1933 1935-1937 1939 1946 1948 1949 1951 1957-1966 1969-1971 1973 1974 1977 1987-1991 1993-1997 2000 2001 2005 2007

St Mary Hall
Merged into Oriel College in 1902
Torpids Notes: 1869
Eights Notes: 1867 1868 1870 1872 1873 1874 1891-1893

St Peters'
Torpids Notes: 1930-1932 1936 1938 1940 1947 1950 1951 1953 1955-1961 1964-1966 1974 1975 1978 1987 1996 2008
Eights Notes: 1930 1931 1935-1938 1949 1950 1952 1955 1956 1957 1959 1961 1962 1964 1965 1969 1972 1990 1993 1994 1996

Saunders' Bridge
The towpath bridge over the small stream entering the Isis just upstream of the Univ (formerly OUBC) boathouse.

Sherwood
Oxford Rowing, A History of Boat-Racing at Oxford from the Earliest Times, by the Rev. W. E. Sherwood, published by Henry Frowde, 1900.
On-line version

Somerville
Torpids Notes: 1978 1981 1982-1984 1986-1996 1999 2005
Eights Notes: 1976 1977 1981 1982 1985-1996 1998 2001 2007

Talboys' Raft
A raft moored approximately half-way along what is now Boathouse Island (see Map)

Templeton
Torpids Notes: 1989
Eights Notes: 1986 1993

Tims' Boathouse
Former name of the Long Bridges Boathouse before it was extensively redesigned and rebuilt in the 1990s. Formerly Rough's Boathouse.

Trinity
Torpids Notes: 1838 1839 1858 1860 1861 1865 1866 1873 1876 1880 1881 1887 1891 1894 1896-1914 1919-1921 1923-1925 1932 1934 1935 1938 1939 1940 1948 1950 1951 1953-1958 1964 1966-1968 1971 1973-1976 1978 1980 1987 1988 1990 1992 1994 1997-1999 2001 2005 2006
Eights notes: 1827 1828 1842 1844 1846 1849 1851 1854 1859 1861-1864 1868 1870 1881 1883 1888 1891-1914 1919-1923 1925-1927 1929 1931-1933 1936-1939 1941 1943 1946-1955 1958-1966 1968 1969 1975 1985 1986 1988 1991 1993 1994 1996 1998 2003

University
Torpids Notes: 1840 1850 1869-1874 1881 1891 1896 1897-1914 1919-1921 1928 1925-1934 1936-1938 1940 1947 1950-1952 1954-1962 1964 1970-1976 1978-1985 1988-1997 1999 2004 2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1822 1827 1828 1830 1831 1836 1841-1844 1853 1857 1868-1871 1874 1875 1877 1878 1888 1890-1914 1919 1920 1922 1923 1925 1926 1928-1933 1935-1939 1946 1948 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1959 1960 1962 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1976 1978 1983-1998 2000 2003 2006 2007

Wadham
Torpids Notes: 1840 1845 1859 1867 1870 1873 1879 1886 1891 1896-1902 1904-1914 1919-1921 1924 1925 1927-1934 1936 1937 1939 1940 1947 1951 1953 1955-1957 1959 1961 1962 1964 1965 1969-1972 1974-1976 1979 1981-1985 1989-1993 1995 1996 2003 2005
Eights Notes: 1837 1841 1842 1849 1850 1856 1873 1881 1887 1888 1890-1914 1919-1924 1926-1929 1931 1932 1937 1939 1953 1956 1957 1959 1961-1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1974 1976 1977 1978 1981 1985-1991 1993 1997-2001 2003

Wall
'The Wall' refers to the section of towpath near the finish of the course.
From Sherwood (p93)
Up to 1864 the other side of the river had been a simple towing-path, such as we might find now in any of the more rural portions of the Thames. The bridges were the ordinary wooden bridges of the towing-path, with a gate at one or both ends of them, and each fence was brought out to the river by a gate. Altogether there were a dozen of these obstructions between Folly Bridge and Iffley. This year the first river wall was built. It extended as far as the barges then went, to the mouth of the Cherwell.

Weirs Bridge
A towpath bridge crossing a small stream which ran along the course of the present Donnington Bridge Rd towards the weirs.

Westminster
Eights Notes: 1995

The Willows
The stretch upstream of the Gut where the left bank is lined with willow trees. Later known as the Green Bank.
Referenced from 1888 – 1923

Wolfson
Torpids Notes: 1972 1974 1975 1978 1982 1988 1990 1992 1993 1997 2004 2005 2008
Eights Notes: 1969 1971 1974 1981 1989 1993 1994 1996 1998 2001

Woodgate
Boating, by W. B. Woodgate, published by Longmans, Green & Co, London, 1888 as part of The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes series.
Woodgate himself is mentioned, as a member of the Brasenose Eight, in the records for 1865, 1867

Worcester
Torpids Notes: 1838 1849 1866 1867 1887 1891 1896-1914 1920-1924 1927-1936 1939 1947 1950 1951 1953-1962 1964-1968 1970 1971 1976 1978-1984 1987 1988 1992 1993 1995 1997 1999 2003 2004 2006 2008
Eights Notes: 1825 1827 1829 1830 1837 1838 1844 1850 1867 1873 1883 1888 1890-1914 1919-1922 1925 1927 1928 1931-1936 1938 1939 1947 1949 1950 1951 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1965 1966 1967 1970 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1981 1982 1986-1991 1993-1998 2003 2005 2007