My treasured heirloom

Tim Gosling, designer

My father, Prof Raymond Gosling [who, in 1952, took the first picture of the double helix of DNA] rowed at Henley in the 1940s and, following in his footsteps, my nephew has rowed over the past two years. I inherited all my father’s regatta badges—which, for years, remained squirreled away in his sock drawer—and am now endeavouring to fill some of the rogue gaps. Some blazers clearly returned home without the enamel badge— were they a victim of drunk-anddisorderly behaviour or perhaps it was just outrage from my mother, Mary? She tolerated the Henley behaviour until the 1990s, when she put her foot down and refused to go along anymore.

The collection is now almost the full set from the regatta in 1924 to the current day, with only nine to find. The badges from the 1920s and 1930s have become collector’s items and sell for more than £1,000 on ebay.