Redclyffe Yacht Club

Redclyffe Yacht Club – the club once described as, “the little club that’s round the bend and up the creek”, was established in 1933 by Percy F. Westerman, who went on to become its first Commodore. Percy was an author of boys’ adventure stories and lived on a barge near the current clubhouse where he wrote many of his 178 books. A collection of these books is now housed in the Wareham library. Redclyffe enjoys the outstanding beauty of the River Frome and its name was inspired by the nearby red sandstone cliffs which overlook it. The Club burgee has a red background with a yellow kingcup in the centre and these flowers can be seen at springtime along the riverbank. The clubhouse was rebuilt in 1987/8 with the help of Members, who also financed the work. Ongoing maintenance is carried out by Club Members and the ‘Monday Club’, a group of Members, mainly retired, who meet every Monday morning to do whatever is necessary. In 2008/9 the Club embarked on a major project to replace all the pontoons fronting the clubhouse and in 2012/13 the washrooms were also completely refurbished. Once again this was financed by the membership, who were as usual very much involved in the work. The function room had a complete makeover in 2022. The old ceiling was replaced, new LED lighting installed together with new window dressing, seating and a ceiling mounted projector. In the spring of 2023 the access ramp to the pontoons was repositioned from the upstream end to the downstream end of the club. This involved the installation of a new landing pontoon. All the work was carried out by members and has provided a much improved access.