Wallingford Head: Sunday 30th November 2025

chermes5
1 day ago
5 min read

Dear Parents, Guardians and Athletes,

Wallingford Head is run upstream on the Wallingford stretch of the River Thames over three divisions of racing: Headington have entered J15-Senior crews into both divisions (1 and 2).

Location:

Oxford University have kindly allowed us to boat for Wallingford long distance sculls from their boat house. If you are dropping your daughter off directly at the race the address of the OUBC boathouse is:

OUBC Flemming Boathouse

Chalmore Gardens

Wallingford

OX10 9EP

There is no access for parents to the boathouse or the surrounding yard and cars are not permitted in the OUBC car park at all so if you are dropping your daughter off please do so at the gate and do not enter the car park. Chalmore Gargens and St Lucians Lane are private roads and no parking is allowed here during the day.

Please refer to the 'spectators' section below regarding parking options.

The Draw:

The draw can be found on the event website.

Please note that the crew names on the draw are not necessarily accurate as our race entries were made several weeks ago and crew lineups are adjusted subsequently.

Headington crew lineups will be finalised with the girls this week. Anyone who is injured or ill will not be entered to race.

Headington have entered crews into the following events:

Division 1:

WU23 Eights (numbers 60, 63 & 64)

WJ16 Eights (numbers 78 & 79)|

Division 2:

WJ18 Eights (numbers 247, 252, 253 & 272)

WJ15 Eights (numbers 287 & 289)

WJ16 Coxed Fours (numbers 329 & 331)

Please note that there will be no training on Sunday for those who are not racing at Wallingford.

Transport:

The bus will depart at 7:00am at the latest. Please meet outside the school gym at 6:50am. Please note that there are boarders and girls who may be sleeping. THE GIRLS MUST NOT MAKE ANY NOISE while waiting outside the boarding house.

Transport is available back from Wallingford if needed however, where possible, please can parents arrange transport back from the event (there is school transport available to all boarders back to school).

No girls may depart the event until the trailer is fully loaded.

Those meeting the team at Wallingford should arrive no later than 7:45am for division 1 and no later than 11:30am for division 2.

Itinerary: Wallingford Head - 30th November 2025

Please note that there are many girls racing and that it is their responsibility that they follow the coaches instructions and the timings below. Also, once the girls boat they may have to wait on the water before racing so they will need to make sure to have had a loo stop prior to racing and that have warm rowing kit available.

06:50: Meet outside school gym.

07:00: Bus departs from Headington.

07:30: Bus arrives at Wallingford - begin rigging boats

- Division 1

08:30: Dressed and ready for pre-race chat at the trailer. Warm up then boat. There will be no time for anything else.

09:00: Earliest boating time for division 1 athletes. Please note: rowers are responsible for ensuring that they have boated at the correct times, rowers need to have inspected the draw and made note of boating times. Crews that are late may not be allowed to race. I have instructed coaches that under no circumstances are they to chase girls to get boated!

10:15: All crews in marshalling area (warm kit is needed as rowers may be there for a while)

10:30: Approximate start time: it could be earlier so rowers are to row straight to the start.

After the race any breakages or other equipment issues should be reported to the coaches immediately.

- Division 2

12:30: Boats rigged for Division 2

12:45: Dressed and ready for pre-race chat at the trailer. You will then warm up and boat. There will be no time for anything else.

12:20: Earliest boating time for division 2 athletes.

Please note: rowers are responsible for ensuring that they have boated at the correct times, rowers need to have inspected the draw and made note of boating times. Crews that are late may not be allowed to race. I have instructed coaches that under no circumstances are they to chase girls to get boated!

13:45: All crews in marshalling area (warm kit is needed as rowers may be there for a while).

14:00: Approximate start time for Division 2: it could be earlier so rowers are to row straight to the start.

After the race any breakages or other equipment issues should be reported to the coaches immediately.from

15:00: De-Rig and load trailer.

No girl may depart before the trailer is fully loaded.

Kit and Food

The girls will need:

- Water bottles with electrolyte replacement fluid.

- Food appropriate for race day, if you are not sure what to bring please have the girls ask their coaches

- A good breakfast before departing (eg: Porridge, toast and a banana).

- Make sure to have a meal for after each race, such as pasta and banana / fruit etc

- Kit: It will be cold and possibly wet so a change of kit for after each race is needed. Make sure you have enough warm and waterproof kit for between racing.

Coxes and athletes will not be allowed to boat if they are not properly attired for the weather conditions.

Spectating

Please see the Wallingford Head website for parking and spectator information

The best viewing is from the A4130 Road Bridge (Nosworthy Way) which can be accessed from the Thames Path which runs along the river from Wallingford. The course can be viewed from the Thames Path also and viewing of the finish line is possible on the Crowmarsh Gifford side of the river (the bank at the finish is accessed from Wallingford Bridge).

There will be 2 free car parks available for competitors and spectators to use on the day.

These will open at 06.30 and close at 16.30 promptly.
There will be limited provision for blue badge holders in the trailer park.
Accessibility: the footpaths from the car parks to the river are flat, gravel, grass and wood-chip or the alternative is to use the road.

Car Park 1 – Howbery Business Park – approx. 1.2km / 10-12 mins walk to riverPostcode/Sat Nav Ref: OX10 8BA, Howbery Park, Benson Lane, Wallingford, Oxon.Please only park on the gravel car park area as directed by car park marshals.

Car Park 2 – Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – approx. 1km / 5-6mins walk to the riverPostcode/Sat Nav Ref: OX10 8BB, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, OxfordshirePlease only park in allocated parking spaces or to spaces where the car park marshals have directed you to.

As a courtesy to local residents and other town users, competitors and spectators are requested NOT to park in: