2-798-976 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Newcastle Boat Race, 1845. Rowing race on the River Tyne in Newcastle between between Henry Clasper, of Derwenthaugh, near Newcastle, and William Pocock, of London. View showing '...the start from above bridge, looking towards Gateshead'. Clasper '...won easily by more than a quarter of a mile...for the first 200 yards, the struggle was beautiful; the tiny skiffs battling with the waves, and the spray dashing over them...Pocock's boat had...shipped a good deal of water. On getting loose, Clasper took the lead, and went away several lengths a-head, gradually improving his position; owing, no doubt, to Pocock's boat having become heavy and unmanageable from the quantity of water it contained'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII.