The Club
We’re a welcoming community club with a lot of heart
JOG is a proudly community‐run volunteer club, welcoming all ages – from juniors (age 12+) to masters – competitors and recreational rowers alike. We serves Lancaster, Morecambe, Preston, and South Cumbria.
In 2009–2010, the Lancaster Schools’ Rowing Association was formed, in partnership with JOG and regional schools and colleges, to provide rowing opportunities to local youth and to coordinate indoor and water‑based programmes.
JOG is also a founding member of the Lancaster Rowing Development Group, established in 2014, collaborating with British Rowing, local schools, universities, and City Council to advance rowing in the region.
A love of rowing is at the heart of JOG’s ethos: we provide a welcoming, inclusive environment where anyone, from first‑time rowers to seasoned competitors, can thrive.
With regular club coaching sessions, Learn‑to‑Row courses, and race support, the Club encourages skill development and participation across all levels.
We foster a strong community spirit, with long‑standing honorary members such as Doug Melvin (Wingfield Sculls double‑winner), Scott and Mason Durant (international competitors and Olympic champion), Pauline Janson, and historian Neil Wigglesworth all celebrated as part of our legacy.
Whether you’re picking up an oar for the first time or chasing river race results, JOG offers a friendly, committed community.
Come row with us on the beautiful River Lune and become part of over 175 years of living history.
Founded in 1842, we’re one of the oldest rowing clubs in the country
Lancaster John O’ Gaunt Rowing Club (JOG) traces its origins to 1842, making it the fifth‑oldest surviving rowing club in the UK outside of universities.
It was co‑founded by architect Edmund Sharpe and Edward Graham Paley as Lancaster Rowing Club, before splitting in 1865 amid political controversy to form JOG and a rival club across the river.
Through economic hardship in the 1870s and recovery in the 1880s, JOG flourished—its membership peaked at around 245 and a new two‑storey boathouse was built.
Following World War II, membership declined, and by the 1960s, the deteriorating boathouse prompted a fundraising campaign. The current boathouse on Halton Road, Skerton, was opened in 1983, exactly one hundred years after the previous building.
In 2008–2009, a strategic expansion and development plan (spearheaded by Iain Taylor and Glenn Stevens) revived the Club, resulting in a surge in membership—104 subscriptions in 2009—and major improvement initiatives for the building and fleet.
In December 2015, Storm Desmond caused catastrophic flooding at the boathouse, destroying over half the fleet. The Club made structural upgrades, implemented flood‑resilience measures, and rebuilt its equipment through support from Sport England, crowdfunding, and donated boats. By late 2016–17, it had fully recovered and resumed growth.