Nowadays, West Street is the epitome of Henley-on-Thames living yet in the past the opposite was the case. Quoting from the town’s Official Guide, it says: “…it is difficult to imagine this street was once the site of destitute agricultural workers and their starving families, brutally deprived of their homes and livelihoods during successive agricultural depressions. With its adjacent noxious yards and alleys, it degraded into a stinking slum with no running water or basic sanitation.
In the 1850’s public sewers with running water were introduced…the appalling living standards slowly started to improve.
The sign outside The Row Barge shows Princess Anne in 1977 being taken up the regatta course in a replica of a Tudor Royal barge that was built for the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons”.
Many people reading this will know this film, directed by Fred Zinnemann, who also brought us From here to Eternity, High Noon and the Day of the Jackal, and how it built a reputation for being one the finest British films of all times.
The title expresses the character of Sir Thomas More who is supposed to be ready to cope with any contingency and whose behaviour is always appropriate to the occasion. This was no easy matter in the time of King Henry VIII when the film is set and when he is caught between the king demanding a divorce and how More found this was against his conscience.
In the last few years this pub sign has been repainted and it’s now clearer to see the depiction of Princess Anne (now known as Anne, Princess Royal and often referred to as the hardest working Royal) being rowed here in our town. The revised Brakspear logo is also incorporated. I’m unsure who else is illustrated in the boat’s elaborate aft shelter in the painting.
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