I recall a careers talk given to my sixth form Maths class by David Miles, an alumnus of my school in Caerphilly, South Wales, who had recently studied Theoretical Physics followed by Part III Maths at Fitz, on the topic of death being treated as a discount factor. He was an actuary, a job none of us had heard of, so he was expertly suited to explaining discount factors (which I became extremely familiar with in my later career as a derivatives trader) and how they could aid in the modelling of mortality rates, essential for life insurance and pension analysis. I met David from time to time over the years (often rugby related) but only recently realised that as well as playing rugby he had also rowed while at College, having taken it up in his 4th year when he lived near the river. He sent me some photos from the 1976 Fitz 3rd May boat, which was called “Sludgegulpers”.
The crew was listed on the May Bumps Supper menu, though it is possible that S Crawford might have replaced N Jepps on some or all of the days.
Their results were perhaps not as they would have hoped but i’m sure a lot of fun was had by all.
Coincidentally, Peter Emery had written of his sadness on hearing of Adrian Tollett’s passing, and mentioned that Adrian “was mainly committed to a “gentlemen’s crew” called the Sludgegulpers”, and referenced Ken Olisa’s photo (Adrian Tollett – Billygoats Society) of the 1973 Lent 4th VIII.
I was intrigued by the name and I looked through Ken Drake’s archive at the crew lists from dinner menus. The 1973 Lent 4th VIII were not named on the menu, however, and had no members in common with later Sludgegulper crews, so I suspect Adrian was not in the Sludgegulpers. The Sludgegulpers are first named the next academic year, as the 2nd novice VIII in the 1973 Fairbairns, and became 4th boat in the 1974 Lents but by the 1974 Mays they had dropped to the position of 8th boat. They once more made up the 4th boat in the 1975 Mays, then 3rd boat in 1976 when David Miles joined. Many of these crews had a number of names in common: cox CJ Fish making 5 appearances, S French and P Frost making 4, and S Bagshaw, J Griffin, D Bygate and D Fisher making 3 each. None are currently Billygoats so i don’t know whether any of them will ever see this post. It would be interesting to hear from them about the crew, why it was so named, and how they kept it going for that 3 or 4 year period.
Often we remember 1st boats and their exploits, but we should also remember how rowing at Fitz was an inclusive sport which allowed many undergraduates to take part and enjoy the excitement of bumps racing. The Sludgegulpers are a great example of this, as indeed was Adrian himself, and the tales Ken Drake tells about the 1962 3rd Lent crew, the 1979 4th May crew etc.
Dan George
Dan Hi! As you say, “rowing at Fitz was an inclusive sport which allowed many undergraduates to take part and enjoy the excitement of bumps racing.” I coxed various emanations of “Edwina” between 1972 and 1974, overlapping with the Sludgegulpers (and the beautifully named Acme Chunderers). We managed one Head of the Cam, one Fairbairn and four sets of bumps between Mays 72 and 74, (we missed the Mays in 1973). Of the names you mention, Adrian was with us for Lents and Mays in 1974 when we were Fitz 5. At the reunion row in 2014, we put out an eight with 8 ex-Edwinaites, with two more in our bank party. It was also notable, for me, in that I met Ken Drake, who 46 years before had been my ‘O’-level geography teacher (I got an A – thanks Ken!) At that time, I wrote for the College magazine “Most of all though, it demonstrated how strong those friendships formed at College are, and how well they survive decades of not meeting one another”. That was reinforced by our 50 years on reunion (delayed by Covid to be 51 years on) when 7 Edwinaites met for dinner the night before the official reunion, and were joined by three more – all 10 on one table – for the official dinner. Of the 16 crew over the three years, I think probably only two had rowed before going up to Fitz. From what I see of the current Boat Club and Billygoats posting, both that inclusivity, and the welcome to new rowers persists. I haven’t forgotten George the boatman’s comment when we entered the Head of the Cam, when we allotted the race number 69, which I wore on my back. In a tribute to my coxing ability he said it was chosen deliberately, as it would read the same if we were upside down in the water I hope today’s crews have as much fun, and such enduring friendships, as Edwina has managed All the best David David Ackland