In 1933, Harry Beck revolutionised the London Underground map with this angular representation inspired by electric circuit diagrams. He was paid £10 for his efforts. In 2009, the philistines at Transport for London removed the representation of the River Thames from the map "to avoid clutter".

28 October 2021

By Tim Koch

After his posts on fifty years of London Transport's Boat Race posters (Part 1 and Part 2), Tim Koch concludes his trilogy on LT's portrayal of rowing by looking at its less prolific promotion of boating, head races and regattas.

Twickenham Regatta, then part of Middlesex, 1910.

Richmond Watermen's Regatta, Surrey, 1912.

The 1913 World Professional Sculling Championships  would have drawn University Boat Race sized crowds to the Putney - Mortlake course to see local boy Ernest Barry defeat Harry Pearce of Australia for a prize of £500 – about £60,000 today.
A 1913 poster produced to promote travel to the Teddington Royal Canoe Club Regatta. However, the text has not been added to this copy. The man is wearing a Thames Rowing Club tie.
1913. Underground to Arcadia: London Transport Posters 1908–1914 states: "In the years before the start of World War I, artists… promoted a vision of the Underground as a path to Arcadia along the Thames and at the edges of the city". The reference to the Red Lion Hotel in this picture suggests that it is Henley-on-Thames. Strangely, Henley Royal Regatta was never promoted as a destination even though it would have been ideal for LT's romanticised images of Englishness.
Kingston Regatta, Surrey, 1914.
1923. Held in Thames Ditton, Surrey, near to Hampton Court, Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta began in 1887, being described as an "Aquatic Sports and Venetian Fete". The image may not be immediately clear, but it is a high view of a parasol in a punt.
Molesey Regatta, East Molesey, Surrey, 1924.
Molesey Regatta, East Molesey, Surrey, 1925.
Molesey Regatta, East Molesey, Surrey, 1927.
Molesey Regatta, East Molesey, Surrey, 1928. Molesey Amateur Regatta was founded in 1867 and was for many years regarded as second only to Henley.
1933. Richmond was another fashionable regatta in the inter-war years. Possibly, this picture was inspired by Alfred Sisley's 1874 painting, "Regatta at Molesey".
1933. To the river by trolleybus, punting optional.
Four Regattas to travel to in the summer of 1934.
1938, the Eights Head of the River Race gets its own poster. Between 1953 and 1959, reference to the event had been included on the Boat Race posters.
1939, a nice image for that year's Head of the River Race.
In 1971, LT produced this matter-of-fact poster for three rowing events, the Eights Head, the Boat Race and the Scullers Head. It may be an uninspired production, but it would still be wonderful if such a thing was thought worth doing today.
This 1991 poster was produced not so much to promote travel to the Boat Race but more as part of a series called "Art on the Underground". This began in the late 1980s when London Underground began commissioning artists as part of a programme to fill unsold advertising space with artwork.
In 2005, Transport for London (TfL) issued a set of six 'Back the Bid' posters referencing various sports in support of London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Brilliantly, the two "Os" in "LONDON" form the ever decreasing puddles of the sculling boat. This could be the last rowing poster ever issued by TfL and it is appropriate that the simple yet striking graphics, three colour printing and clever design hark back to the golden age of London Transport's rowing posters.

The London Transport Museum Shop has copies of Boat Race posters from twenty of the contests run between 1914 and 1955 for sale - plus many of the regatta and boating posters illustrated above. Unframed versions are £20 for those sized 30 x 25 cms, £30 for 40 x 29, £40 for 60 x 44 and £50 for 80 x 50. Framed ones are £70 for the smallest and £150 for the biggest. This should solve Christmas present problems for HTBS Types.