Cambridge
Cambridge is a university city and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, on the River Cam 50 miles north of London. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was 123,867 including 24,506 students. Cambridge became an important trading centre during the Roman and Viking ages, there is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area as early as the Bronze Age; the first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although modern city status was not conferred until 1951. The world-renowned University of Cambridge was founded in 1209; the buildings of the university include King's College Chapel, Cavendish Laboratory, the Cambridge University Library, one of the largest legal deposit libraries in the world. The city's skyline is dominated by several college buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital and St John's College Chapel tower. Anglia Ruskin University, which evolved from the Cambridge School of Art and the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology has its main campus in the city.
Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology Silicon Fen with industries such as software and bioscience and many start-up companies born out of the university. More than 40% of the workforce have a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average; the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, is soon to house premises of AstraZeneca, a hotel and the relocated Papworth Hospital. The first game of association football took place at Parker's Piece; the Strawberry Fair music and arts festival and Midsummer Fair are held on Midsummer Common, the annual Cambridge Beer Festival takes place on Jesus Green. The city is adjacent to the A14 roads. Cambridge station is less than an hour from London King's Cross railway station. Settlements have existed around the Cambridge area since prehistoric times; the earliest clear evidence of occupation is the remains of a 3,500-year-old farmstead discovered at the site of Fitzwilliam College.
Archaeological evidence of occupation through the Iron Age is a settlement on Castle Hill from the 1st century BC relating to wider cultural changes occurring in southeastern Britain linked to the arrival of the Belgae. The principal Roman site is a small fort Duroliponte on Castle Hill, just northwest of the city centre around the location of the earlier British village; the fort was bounded on two sides by the lines formed by the present Mount Pleasant, continuing across Huntingdon Road into Clare Street. The eastern side followed Magrath Avenue, with the southern side running near to Chesterton Lane and Kettle's Yard before turning northwest at Honey Hill, it was converted to civilian use around 50 years later. Evidence of more widespread Roman settlement has been discovered including numerous farmsteads and a village in the Cambridge district of Newnham. Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain around 410, the location may have been abandoned by the Britons, although the site is identified as Cair Grauth listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons.
Evidence exists that the invading Anglo-Saxons had begun occupying the area by the end of the century. Their settlement – on and around Castle Hill – became known as Grantebrycge. Anglo-Saxon grave goods have been found in the area. During this period, Cambridge benefited from good trade links across the hard-to-travel fenlands. By the 7th century, the town was less significant and described by Bede as a "little ruined city" containing the burial site of Etheldreda. Cambridge was on the border between the East and Middle Anglian kingdoms and the settlement expanded on both sides of the river; the arrival of the Vikings was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 875. Viking rule, the Danelaw, had been imposed by 878 Their vigorous trading habits caused the town to grow rapidly. During this period the centre of the town shifted from Castle Hill on the left bank of the river to the area now known as the Quayside on the right bank. After the Viking period, the Saxons enjoyed a return to power, building churches such as St Bene't's Church, merchant houses and a mint, which produced coins with the town's name abbreviated to "Grant".
In 1068, two years after his conquest of England, William of Normandy built a castle on Castle Hill. Like the rest of the newly conquered kingdom, Cambridge fell under the control of the King and his deputies; the first town charter was granted by Henry I between 1120 and 1131. It recognised the borough court; the distinctive Round Church dates from this period. In 1209, Cambridge University was founded by students escaping from hostile townspeople in Oxford; the oldest existing college, was founded in 1284. In 1349 Cambridge was affected by the Black Death. Few records survive; the town north of the river was affected being wiped out. Following further depopulation after a second national epidemic in 1361, a letter from the Bishop of Ely suggested that two parishes in Cambridge be merged as there were not enough people to fill one church. With more than a third of English clergy dying in the Black Death, four new colleges were established at the university over the following years to train new clergymen, namely Gonville Hall, Trinity Hall, Corpus Christi and Clare.
In 1382 a revised town charter effects a "diminution of the liberties that the community had enjoyed", due to Cambridge's pa
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich. Trinity Hall was known for teaching Law. Notable alumni include theoretical physicists Stephen Hawking and Nobel Prize winner David Thouless, Australian Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, Canadian Governor General David Johnston, philosopher Marshall McLuhan, Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham; the devastation caused by the Black Death plague of the 1340s included the loss of nearly half of the English population. The site that Bateman chose was the original site of Gonville Hall, founded three years earlier, but was financially struggling. Bateman's clerical aim for the Hall is reflected in the foundation of 1350, when he stated that the college's aim was "the promotion of divine worship and of canon and civil science and direction of the commonwealth and of our church and diocese of Norwich." This led the college to be strong in legal studies, a tradition that has continued over the centuries.
At first all colleges in Cambridge were known as'Halls' or'Houses' and later changed their names from'Hall' to'College'. However, when Henry VIII founded Trinity College, Cambridge next door, it became clear that Trinity Hall would continue being known as a Hall; the new foundation's name may have been a punishment for the college's master, Stephen Gardiner, who had opposed the king's remarriage and had endured much of the college's land being removed. It is incorrect to call it Trinity Hall College, although Trinity Hall college is speaking, accurate. A similar situation had existed once before when Henry VI founded King's College despite the existence of King's Hall. King's Hall was incorporated in the foundation of Trinity College in 1546. Trinity Hall, in addition to having a chapel had joint usage of the Church of St John Zacharias with Clare Hall, until the church was demolished to enable the construction of King's in the 15th century. After this, the college was granted usage of the nearby Church of St Edward and Martyr on Peas Hill, a connection which remains to this day.
The college site on the River Cam was obtained from Bateman's purchase of a house from John de Crauden, Prior of Ely, to house the monks during their study, with Front Court being built within the college's first few decades. The chapel was licensed in 1352 and was built by August 1366, when Pope Urban V granted the Master and Fellows permission to celebrate Mass in the college. In 1729-1730, Sir Nathaniel Lloyd, the college master, redecorated the chapel in what, despite subsequent enlargements, remains an intimate style, forming the smallest of the University's chapels. Lloyd removed some of the more prominent graves to the ante-chapel, while digging a vault for his own burial, decorated the interior walls with wainscoting and the ceiling with stucco representations of past masters' crests; the chapel was extended to the east by a few feet in 1864, during which the medieval piscina was rediscovered and rendered accessible by a small door in the wainscoting. The current chapel painting is Maso da San Friano's Salutation, depicting Mary's visit to Elizabeth, from the opening of the Gospel of Luke, which replaced an earlier painting by Giacomo Stella in 1957.
Like the chapel, the college's dining hall was rebuilt by Sir Nathaniel Lloyd along similar lines, with the panelling replaced throughout and the medieval beams replaced by fine baroque carvings. Although the hall was enlarged in the 19th century, it is still one of the smallest and most intimate dining halls in the University; the college library was built in the late 16th century, with the permission of Elizabeth I and during the mastership of Thomas Preston, is now principally used for the storage of the college's manuscripts and rare books. The new Jerwood Library overlooking the river was opened by Lord Howe in 1999, stores the college's modern book collection; the college owns properties in the centre of Cambridge, on Bateman Street and Thompson's Lane, on its Wychfield site next to Fitzwilliam College, where most of the college's sporting activity takes place. Trinity Hall has active Junior and Senior Combination Rooms for undergraduate and senior members of the college community respectively.
The Middle Combination Room is located in Front Court, while the Junior Combination Room is adjacent to the college bar in North Court. Both the MCR and JCR have active committees and organize popular socials for their members across the term. Trinity Hall's oldest and largest society, the Boat Club was founded in 1827, has had a long and distinguished history; the college won all but one of the events in the 1887 Henley Royal Regatta, making it the most successful Cambridge college in Henley's history. The current boathouse, built in 1905 in memory of Henry Latham, is on the River Cam, a short walk from the college; the current Master is the Revd. Jeremy Morris, he took up the role on 1 October 2014. The current Dean is the Revd. Dr. Stephen Plant; the ro
The Boat Race
The Boat Race is an annual rowing race between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, rowed between men's and women's open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is known as the University Boat Race and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race; the men's race was first held in 1829 and has been held annually since 1856, except during the First and Second World Wars. The first women's event was in 1927 and the race has been held annually since 1964. Since 2015, the women's race has taken place on the same day and course, since 2018 the combined event of the two races has been referred to as "The Boat Race". In the 2019 race, which took place on Sunday 7 April 2019, Cambridge won the men's and women's races as well as both reserve races; the course covers a 4.2-mile stretch of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake. Members of both teams are traditionally known as blues and each boat as a "Blue Boat", with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford in dark blue.
As of 2019, Cambridge has won the men's race 84 times and Oxford 80 times, with one dead heat. Cambridge has led Oxford in cumulative wins since 1930. In the women's race, Cambridge have won the race 44 times and Oxford 30 times. Cambridge has led Oxford in cumulative wins since 1966. A reserve boat race has been held since 1966 for the women. Over 250,000 people watch the race from the banks of the river each year. In 2009, a record 270,000 people watched. A further 15 million or more watch it on television; the tradition was started in 1829 by Charles Merivale, a student at St John's College and his Old Harrovian school friend Charles Wordsworth, studying at Christ Church, Oxford. The University of Cambridge challenged the University of Oxford to a race at Henley-on-Thames but lost easily. Oxford raced in dark blue because five members of the crew, including the stroke, were from Christ Church Head of the River, whose colours were dark blue. There is a dispute as to the source of the colour chosen by Cambridge.
The second race was with the venue moved to a course from Westminster to Putney. Over the next two years, there was disagreement over where the race should be held, with Oxford preferring Henley and Cambridge preferring London. Following the official formation of the Oxford University Boat Club, racing between the two universities resumed in 1839 on the Tideway and the tradition continues to the present day, with the loser challenging the winner to a rematch annually; the race in 1877 was declared a dead heat. Both crews finished in a time of 8 seconds in bad weather; the verdict of the race judge, John Phelps, is considered suspect because he was over 70 and blind in one eye. Rowing historian Tim Koch, writing in the official 2014 Boat Race Programme, notes that there is "a big and entrenched lie" about the race, including the claim that Phelps had announced "Dead heat... to Oxford by six feet". Phelps's nickname "Honest John" was not an ironic one, he was not drunk under a bush at the time of the finish.
He did have to judge. Some newspapers had believed Oxford won a narrow victory but their viewpoint was from downstream. With no clear way to determine who had surged forward at the exact finish line, Phelps could only pronounce it a dead heat. Koch believes that the press and Oxford supporters made up the stories about Phelps which Phelps had no chance to refute. Oxford disabled, were making effort after effort to hold their waning lead, while Cambridge, curiously enough, had settled together again, were rowing as one man, were putting on a magnificent spurt at 40 strokes to the minute, with a view of catching their opponents before reaching the winning-post, thus struggling over the remaining portion of the course, the two eights raced past the flag alongside one another, the gun fired amid a scene of excitement equalled and never exceeded. Cheers for one crew were succeeded by counter-cheers for the other, it was impossible to tell what the result was until the Press boat backed down to the Judge and inquired the issue.
John Phelps, the waterman, who officiated, replied that the noses of the boats passed the post level, that the result was a dead heat. In 1959 some of the existing Oxford blues attempted to oust president Ronnie Howard and coach Jumbo Edwards. However, their attempt failed. Three of the dissidents returned and Oxford went on to win by six lengths. Following defeat in the previous year's race, Oxford's first in eleven years, American Chris Clark was determined to gain revenge: "Next year we're gonna kick ass... Cambridge's ass. If I have to go home and bring the whole US squad with me." He recruited another four American post-graduates: three international-class rowers and a cox, in an attempt to put together the fastest Boat Race crew in the history of the contest. Disagreements over the training regime of Dan Topolski, the Oxford coach, led to the crew walking out on at least one occasion, resulted in the coach revising his approach. A fitness test between Clark and club president Donald Macdonald resulted in a call for Macdonald's removal.
Women's Boat Race
The Women's Boat Race is an annual rowing race between Cambridge University Women's Boat Club and Oxford University Women's Boat Club. First rowed in 1927, the race has taken place annually since 1964. Since the 2015 race it has been rowed on the same day and course as the men's Boat Race on the River Thames in London, taking place around Easter, since 2018 the name "The Boat Race" has been applied to the combined event; the race is rowed in eights and the cox can be of any gender. The course covers a 4.2 miles stretch of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake. Members of both crews are traditionally known as blues and each boat as a "Blue Boat", with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford dark blue; as of 2019 Cambridge have won the race 44 times and Oxford 30 times. Cambridge has led Oxford in cumulative wins since 1966; the women's race has received television coverage and grown in popularity since 2015, attracting a television audience of 4.8 million viewers that year. The 2019 race was won by Cambridge by five lengths.
The first women's rowing event between Oxford and Cambridge was held on 15 March 1927 on The Isis in Oxford. This was not a race in the years up to 1935, the two boats were not on the river together and were judged on both their speed and their "steadiness, finish and other matters of style"; the Times reported that "large and hostile crowds gathered on the towpath" and The New York Times stated "a crowd of five thousand persons was on hand as a willing cheering section". The race covered a distance of 1⁄2 mile over which the crews were judged on their style while rowing downstream and their speed while rowing back upstream. Reports differ as to the judges' opinions on style: one suggests they failed to agree on a winner, another indicates that they deemed the style of each crew to be equal; as a result, the judges based their decision on speed: the race was won by Oxford in a time of 3 minutes 36 seconds, beating Cambridge by 15 seconds. The next event in 1929 took place on the Tideway in London.
At the 1935 race, after two intervening events, the crews took to the river together for the first time. Racing on the Thames in London Oxford's boat was sent off first with the Cambridge boat following thirty seconds later; the 1936 race, held on The Isis, was the first to take place side by side. The location alternated between the River Cam in Cambridge and The Isis, over a distance of about 1,000 yards. Unlike the men’s race, the women's continued in most years through the Second World War; the Cambridge University Women's Boat Club was founded in 1941 when Girton College became the second women's college to cater for rowing. Until that year Cambridge was represented by Newnham College Boat Club; the first blues were awarded in 1941 when CUWBC raced against Oxford University Women's Boat Club, founded in 1926. All of the Cambridge rowers in 1941 were members of Newnham College; the following year the first non-Newnham rower competed. In training after the 1952 race, Oxford was banned from the river.
Both OUWBC and CUWBC suffered from lack of funds and the race fell into abeyance. After a 12-year gap, the race has been held annually since; the number of women rowers increased as more colleges started to admit women and reserve boats from each university began racing in 1966, the year after the men's reserve boats began racing. A second reserve race was run in 1968, the reserves have raced annually since 1975; the women's reserve boats were named Osiris and Blondie. In 1975 the men's lightweight race started at Henley-on-Thames and the women's Boat race was relocated there in 1977 creating the Henley Boat Races. At Henley the race took place over a distance of 2,000 metres; the First VIII receive university blues, is therefore more known as the Blue Boat, with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford dark blue. While the crew is all female, the cox can be female; the Second VIII receives university colours. The 2011 race was the first to be sponsored by Newton Investment Management, a subsidiary of BNY Mellon.
The crews had no sponsorship and were self funded. Newton have remained the sponsor since and increased the amount of funding significantly. For the 2013 race the entire Henley Boat Races was moved to Dorney Lake because of flooding on the river. Oxford won the 2014 race on the Henley course having beaten Cambridge by a distance of four boat lengths over two kilometres. A newly designed trophy, to replace the existing wooden shield, was awarded to the Oxford president by Olympic gold medallist Sophie Hosking who had won the Women's lightweight double sculls at the 2012 Summer Olympics. On 11 April 2015 the 70th women's race was held on The Championship Course on the same day as the traditional male event for the first time; the course covers a 4.2 miles stretch of the Thames from Putney to Mortlake. Rebranded as "The Boat Races", the combined event was broadcast on national television in UK, during which the audience for the women's race reached 4.8 million viewers. OUWBC won by six and half lengths that year.
The Reserves race moved to the Championship Course in 2015, running on the day prior to the main race. In 2016 all four men's and women's boat races took place on the same day and course for the first time. Cancer Research UK were gifted the title sponsorship rights by BNY Mellon and Newton Investment Management, an arrangement which continued for the following two years; the 2016 race, again receiving national television coverage, was won by Oxford while the Cambridge boat nearly sank in the rough conditions. The 2017 race took place on Sunday 2 April at 16:35 British Summer Time, an hour before the men's race. Cambridge won for the fir
May Bumps
The May Bumps are a set of rowing races, held annually on the River Cam in Cambridge. They began in 1887 after separating from the Lent Bumps, the equivalent bumping races held at the end of February or start of March. Prior to the separation there had been a single set of annual bumps dating from its inception in 1827; the races are open to all college boat clubs from the University of Cambridge, the University Medical and Veterinary Schools and Anglia Ruskin Boat Club. The May Bumps is run as a bumps race; the most recent in the series was the May Bumps 2018, which ran from 13 June 2018 until 16 June 2018. The races are run in each containing 17 crews; the number of crews in each bottom division varies yearly depending on new entrants. Each crew contains one coxswain. A total of 154 crews took part in 2014. There are 6 divisions for men's crews and 4 divisions for women's crews; the divisions represent a total race order with Division 1 at the top. The ultimate aim is to try and finish Head of the River, i.e. 1st position in division 1.
At the start, signalled by a cannon, each crew is separated by a distance of about 1½ boat lengths. Once the race has begun, a crew must attempt to catch up with the crew ahead of it and bump it before the crew behind does the same to them. A crew which bumps or is bumped must pull to the side of the river to allow all the other crews to continue racing. If a crew is able to catch and bump the boat which started 3 places in front of it, after the two in front have bumped out, the crew is said to have over-bumped. A crew which neither bumps a crew ahead nor is bumped by a crew behind before crossing the finishing post is said to have rowed over. After the race, any crew which bumps or over-bumps swaps places with the crew that it has bumped for the following day's racing. A crew which rows over stays in the same position. Crews finishing at the top of a division also:at the bottom of the next division, as the sandwich boat, in an attempt to try to move up into the next division; the process is repeated over four days, allowing crews to move up or down several places in the overall order of boats.
The finishing order of one year's May Bumps are used as the starting order of the following year's races. NB. May Bumps were cancelled between 1915 and 1918, in 1940 due to war. Prior to 1946 1st & 3rd Trinity were two separate rowing clubs: 1st Trinity and 3rd Trinity, hence both separate and combined titles. NB; the Women's May Bumps were rowed in coxed-fours between 1974 and 1989, changing to coxed-eights from 1990 onwards. A new start order was used for the women's 1990 races. Sixteen boats have been head of the river. NB. Prior to 1946 1st & 3rd Trinity were two separate rowing clubs: 1st Trinity and 3rd Trinity, hence both separate and combined titles. CCAT, Christ's, Clare Hall, Corpus Christi, Girton, Hughes Hall, King's, Peterhouse, Robinson, St. Catharine's, Sidney Sussex, St Edmund's, Addenbrooke's and the Veterinary School are the regular entrants never to have finished Head of the River for either the men's or women's events. Four boat'awards' are informally/formally recognised by the individual college boat clubs that take part in the Cambridge May Bumps, these accolades are awarded as follows: Blades - The accolade of earning'blades' is given to crews that bump up on every day of the May bumps.
Crews that achieve blades are given the opportunity to purchase decoratory oars from their college boat club, to serve as a reminder of their contribution to the clubs success. For most college rowers, who do not attempt to become University Blues rowers, earning blades is the highest rowing related achievement that can be obtained. Obtaining blades is a rare occurrence. Crews who obtain blades are photographed and recorded on the walls of the college boathouse to serve as a longer term reminder of their success, to inspire future generations of college rowers. In the occasion that a crew earns blades, they earn the right to row back to their college boathouse on the last day of the calendar with their college flag raised high. Super-Blades - In the event that a crew bumps and/or overbumps on the river 4 times they are said to have earned'super-blades'; this is a higher distinction that standard'Blades' but is of course rarer due to the circumstantial nature of the award, the ability of the super-bladed crew, required.
Technical Blades - In the case that a crew does not bump up on each day of rowing, but does manage to bump up net 4 places in the overall standings over the course of the week, with no bumping down, i.e.'making up' for any row overs with an overbump they are said to have qualified for'Technical Blades'. Technical bladed rowers are afforded the same opportunity to obtain a ceremonial blade as those crews that obtain regular blades. Spoons - This'award' is obtained by crews that bump down on every day of the May bumps calendar; the awarding of spoons is an informal occasion by the crew captain this captain will buy a wooden spoon for each crew member as a reminder that "at least they tried". The Pegasus Cup is a Cambrid
Corpus Christi College Boat Club (Cambridge)
Corpus Christi College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Corpus blade colours are maroon with a vertical white stripe and rowers wear kit of the same colour; the boat club crest features the same mythical pelican as that of the College pictured in front of a pair of crossed blades. Corpus is one of the smallest colleges in the University of Cambridge fielding 2-3 men's crews and 1-2 women's crews in the Lent and May Bumps races each year, it shares a boat house with the boat clubs of Sidney Sussex and Wolfson colleges. Corpus Christi College Boat Club was founded in 1828; the club benefited when the Lent and May Bumps became separate events in 1887. The 1st VIII managed to take the headship that year, they did again in 1891, but fell away into the 2nd division thereafter, although rising as high as 6th in 1953. Due to how the May Bumps start order was derived in 1887, Corpus started low down and has since spent most of its time in or around the 2nd division.
To date, 1887 and 1891 are the only headships. A women's crew first appeared in 1984 and has spent most of their early years in the 2nd division of both the Lents and Mays making the 1st division in the 1987 Lents. In the bumps, the small size of Corpus has meant that a periodic shortage of well-trained crews has meant Corpus is prone to yo-yo; this has meant Corpus has traditionally found it difficult to get a sufficient run of good crews to get into the 1st Division. The men were last in the Mays 1st Division in 1994, however a run of bad form in the late 1990s and 2000s saw them slip down to the top of the 3rd Division by 2009. After a few years around the bottom of the 2nd Division, they have been progressing upwards since 2014, in 2017 finished 9th in the 2nd Division. In the Lent Bumps the men have been around the middle to bottom of the 2nd Division since the early 1990s, although like in the Mays, have been moving upward in recent years, they finished the 2017 Lent Bumps 7th in the 2nd Division.
The women have fluctuated between the middle of the 2nd Division and the 3rd Division in recent years in the May Bumps. In 2016 they achieved a club record of +6. In the Lent Bumps the small size of Corpus has meant the women have sometimes been unable to field a crew in recent years. In 2016 they finished 15th in the 2nd Division. In 2016 Corpus won the Pegasus Cup for the most successful college boat club in the May races
Fitzwilliam College Boat Club
Fitzwilliam College Boat Club is the rowing club for members of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Prior to the 1960s, Fitzwilliam House occupied a position near the bottom of the 2nd division or top half of the 3rd division of the Lent and May Bumps finding itself in the 4th division of the Lent Bumps briefly. Between 1959 and 1969, the 1st men's VIII were not bumped in the Lent Bumps, rising to Head of the River in 1969. Between 1960 and 1971, the 1st men's VIII were bumped only once in the May Bumps, taking the headship for three years between 1969 and 1971. From until the mid-1980s, the 1st VIII held a position in the top-half of the 1st division and won both the Fairbairn Cup and the Emmanuel Sprints Regatta in the Michaelmas Term of 1982; the 1982 crew completed the traditional Fairbairn course in 14.34, becoming the second crew to post a winning time of under 15 minutes over the original race distance. The women's 1st VIII held a position in the top-half of the 1st division in the 1980s, but fell from 6th to 39th position when the May Bumps were re-organised in 1990, with the introduction of coxed-eights.
Between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, the women fell 20 places in the Lent Bumps. The 1st Men won blades in Lent Bumps 2006. In the May Bumps 2011, the Women's 1st VIII won blades. In 2006 1st Novice Men Won the Fairbairns Cup Novice Division; the club repeated this victory in the Novice Division race in 2007 and again in 2009. In 2014, the 2nd Novice Men won the Clare Novices Plate. In the Lent Bumps 2015, the 1st Men won superblades, bumping five crews in four days and finishing in the top division; the Boat Club is supported by an active dedicated society, The Billygoats, whose membership is open to all who have rowed for Fitzwilliam College Boat Club. The Billygoats affectionately referred to as the'Billyguts' after the typical shape of middle-aged former oarsmen, organises social events at the May Bumps and Henley Royal Regatta as well as raising funds to support the Boat Club. CUCBC/ Cambridge University Combined Boat Club Fitzwilliam College Boat Club
