Coastal crew celebrates 10 years in a row

Eskmuthe Rowing Club is celebrating its 10th birthday in style – with an exhibition at Musselburgh Museum and the opening of its very own boatshed.

The exhibition tells the story of how the new sport of coastal rowing arrived in Musselburgh, and the building of two rowing boats (called St Ayles skiffs) – Honesty and Steedie Falconer.

Honesty was launched in August 2013, named after the Honest Toun, while Steedie Falconer – named after one of the last surviving fishwives of Fisherrow – entered the water in 2015. Steedie died when the boat was being built, aged 95 – and by complete chance the boat was given the number 95 as part of the coastal rowing fleet.

The exhibition tells the history of coastal rowing and shows how St Ayles skiffs are built – using a kit, but still requiring considerable skill – and also features a small-scale model of the skiff, built by club member Graham Irvine.

The title of the exhibition is To The Metal Marker and Beyond, a tribute to the early days of the club, as Eskmuthe Rowing Club chair Gaynor Allen explained.

“All of the original members of the club were new to rowing and we saw the metal marker (at the rear of Booker as the waters of Musselburgh flow into Edinburgh)  as a far enough distance to row,” she said.

“Gradually, we became more confident and would row to Portobello to land on the beach – and then started going further and further!”

The exhibition features images of some of Eskmuthe’s longest adventures – including a 25km race up the River Tyne in Newcastle, a 22km race on the Clyde in Glasgow and long rows to North Berwick and Queensferry – as well as two world championships.

Eskmuthe has taken part in the “SkiffieWorlds” world championships in Stranraer in 2019 and Kortgene in the Netherlands in 2022. It also participates regularly in competitions far and wide – from Portobello, Port Seton, North Berwick and Dunbar to as far away as Ullapool, where club members competed just a few weeks ago.

Gaynor added: “The club has grown over the years and we now have 75 members, with a long waiting list. Two of our ‘members’ in full club kit (mannequins) are at the exhibition every day, while current members will be on hand to talk to visitors. We’re pleased to hear that the exhibition has got off to a good start and has been very popular.”

In the autumn, Eskmuthe will have the official opening of its new boatshed, in the Back Sands car park at Fisherrow, where it will carry out boat repairs and maintenance and hold meetings in its club room.

The exhibition is open at Musselburgh Museum, 65 High Street, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10.30am-4pm until Saturday 23 September.