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Letter: Messing about on the river with Rodney Bewes

Rodney Bewes in Henley, 2006; he customarily spent all five days of the regatta moored near the finish line.
Rodney Bewes in Henley, 2006; he customarily spent all five days of the regatta moored near the finish line. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

When he wasn’t treading the boards, Rodney Bewes was messing about on the river. The actor was an oarsman at London Rowing Club and Cadgwith gig club in Cornwall. He customarily spent all five days of Henley regatta in his skiff, Frank, moored near the finish line, doffing his London cap and applauding every race. At Henley’s 150th birthday in 1989 he coxed London’s 12-oar, rowed by a dozen former captains. He also won awards for restoration and maintenance of Frank and of his dinghy, Maurice.

In the 1990s, Rodney produced his own one-man show of Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, staged with Frank and a stuffed toy playing the part of Montmorency the dog. It was performed memorably at London RC and at the royal opening in 1998 of the River & Rowing Museum at Henley, before touring Britain.