Today I want to share my guide to the Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure with you. This bastion of British summer fun is a great place to get into the seasonal spirit in England.
Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure
There’s nothing like a traditional English summer event to get me excited about celebrating American Independence Day. Actually, that’s completely untrue.
But I do like traditional English events, and if one happens to fall on 4th of July weekend, so be it. This year, like every year, the event happened to be the Henley Royal Regatta.
The regatta, which takes place over several days in the picturesque town of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, features top rowers from the UK and around the world competing against one another from morning until evening.
Fans line the banks of the river to cheer on their universities, clubs, and countries as they vie for the winning titles.
Saturday was my second visit to the regatta. Like last time, a friend who’s a member of the Leander Club in Henley invited me to spend the day in the exclusive Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure.
The large space was situated right on the finish line, providing spectators with great views of the races.
It was also full of rowing alumni, all of whom were sporting their signature Henley blazers.
Each club, university, or organization that sent rowers to the regatta had its own unique colors and style, ranging from garish orange-and-white stripes to navy blue with white trim.
I arrived on the train from London in the morning and spent several hours watching the races from the Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure with some friends from my alma mater, Brown University.
We had hoped to see our women’s team compete, but they’d been knocked out the previous day by the Great Britain Under-23s.
This being an English event, there was a proper lunch break at 12:30pm. My friends and I made our way to one of the parking lots, where we attended a picnic that another friend’s family put on.
It was a classic British picnic, complete with an amazing amount of beautifully-prepared salads, meats, breads, and even mackerel pate.
The plates were porcelain, the cutlery metal, and the booze champagne. The Americans may have won the war of independence, but the Brits certainly won the battle for best picnic.
After lunch I walked around with a friend of mine in a failed attempt to find a floating tequila bar and an afternoon tea hosted by the Hotel du Vin.
We found neither, and ended up with sore feet and sunburns. We did get to see how the areas outside the Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure looked, though.
Far from the spacious grounds of the Stewards’, the rest of Henley consisted of a tiny riverbank crammed with people and picnic blankets. The paths were so crowded that it took over 45 minutes to walk less than a mile.
But the atmosphere was convivial and there were vendors selling everything from pork to Pimm’s and other English drinks.
While I might have enjoyed it in other circumstances, I was happy to get back to the Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure for some breathing room.
And for some more champagne. My university alumni group met back in the parking lot for food and drinks during the official tea break (yes, they really do have official tea breaks in the UK. I love it).
By the time we finished at 6pm, my feet were too sore and my skin too sunburned to spend much more time in the elements.
I headed back to the train station in Henley and traveled to Paddington station. After a good night’s sleep, I woke up early to get ready for an American friend’s 4th of July barbecue in London.
The theme of the day was burgers and flip cup, and it felt like a much more fitting place to celebrate American Independence Day than the Henley Regatta Stewards’ Enclosure.
Still, there was Pimm’s and the crowd was more international than American. Maybe from now on I’ll make my annual 4th of July celebration an official hybrid expat weekend.
Like my country, I can take the best of all the cultural traditions that make up my world and add them to the festivities. Henley Royal Regatta and Star Spangled Banner, anyone?
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