Forum Topic

Great place to watch Boat Race

Putney Town Rowing Club ( http://putneytownrc.co.uk/archives/wheres-the-best-place-to-watch-the-boat-race ) is close to the finish line and has an outside bar.

Tony Steele ● 5658d25 Comments

The engineer panning the umpires launch radio link receiver dish on top of a 200 foot crane has a great view, and as far as I know it has only been hit by lightning once, (equipment OK, person shocked but otherwise unhurt, and he did stop shaking after about an hour).

Chris Bell ● 5657d

When is it?

Dave Hughes ● 5657d

Certainly not Putney Town rowing club. It's all over by the time you see anything. It's well past the finishing line. Suggest Chiswick Pier forcivilsed bar and good view as they come up and rund bend. They go very fast and are past in a flash! Get there by 4pm as there is the reserve boats racing first, and this is often a very good race. So two races to watch. Or if you want to be among hundreds and hundreds, but good bars etc Furnivall Gardens, Hammersmith, but so many peopl,e view might not be as good.

Michael Wale ● 5657d

This saturday.though why anyone should care is beyomd me.

Sara Nathan ● 5657d

Not that most of us care about Oxford or Cambridge, but Hammersmith is a centre of rowing clubs, and oarsmen and women like to see the best. The best event is next Saturday afternoon when over 400 eights race from Chiswick to Putn ey in the Head of the River. Now that really is an event worth watching. An aquatic Grand National. Last weekend was the Womens Head of the River. Hundreds of locals actively involved. Rowing is an Olympic Gold sport!!!

Michael Wale ● 5656d

And Brits are very good at it...but watching it?And specifically the boat race?It's only fun if one of them sinks and that doesn't happen often enough.But son - sports editor of the Cambridge online newspaper the Tab - is very excited and going with loads of friends.

Sara Nathan ● 5656d

I Second Chiswick Pier as a place to watch it.Great view, cheap beer available to purchase from the Sea Scouts Clubhouse and the E3 drops you right there.  It is the last stop.

Andy Magee ● 5656d

Well, having coxed the ex Cambridge lot Crabtree for a year,moving on now, but support the light blues. Steve Trapmore, Londoner and young Sydney Olympics eight gold medallist has just gone there as coach, from Imperial college. So I hope he gets success.

Michael Wale ● 5656d

Go across the river and there a nice little pub, The Ship, a good place to watch if you get there early enough.

Dave Hughes ● 5656d

Be aware of the high tide, which will cover the riverside road an hour or so before Boat Race start!

Michael Wale ● 5655d

"Be aware of the high tide, which will cover the riverside road an hour or so before Boat Race start!"Most unlikely!  The race is always run on the incoming tide, so high water is after the race.  The tide is not that high today, and is not due until 19:14 at Chiswick Mall.  In fact the river level should be unusually low for a Boat Race.Local tide tables are at href://tides.rjen.me.uk

Richard Jennings ● 5655d

Sorry I was coxing on the delightfil stretch at Twickenham

Michael Wale ● 5655d

I went on a streetwatcher litter pick of the Grand Canal this morning and was appalled by the disgusting state of the water - chocka with plastic bags and other detritus, most of it not decaying at all. Just revolting. The paths etc weren't too bad but you wouldn't want to even row through this water - though people were.

Sara Nathan ● 5655d

As regulars along that stretch, we were up there this morning and have never seen anything like it in all the years we have been walking the Grand Union Canal (Paddington Arm), or indeed any other canal for that matter. It looks as if an entire municipal rubbish dump has been deposited in the water at some point. We felt really sorry for the houseboat dwellers at Horsenden Hill who have found themselves floating in a rubbish tip! However you have done a good job on the towpath, I just hope your rubbish bags don't end up in the water before they're collected.

William Young ● 5654d

There was supposed to be a barge coming along to pick up all the bags - but it looked like it needed a dredger to sift or skim the whole surface of the water. Shame because the tow-path really wasnt' too bad - better then other years according to worthies who had done it before.

Sara Nathan ● 5654d

Did the regular worthies have any idea where the rubbish in the water had come from?

William Young ● 5654d

No none - nor did the number of people who ran/walked/rode past us...many of whom expressed their shock at the state of it.

Sara Nathan ● 5654d

Actually shocked, or just rather surprised?

Roy Gillett ● 5653d

surprised and slightly stunned - and disapproving - does that equate to shocked?

Sara Nathan ● 5653d

I'm afraid people just dump stuff in the water, especially cowboy builders. Soe mornings on the Thames great pieces of plank come by. Then is the sewage that Thames Water ( Aussie Bank McQuarie in reality) dump in the water. If this was Germany or France, they would be in court. Already been allegedly fined by the EU. Lesson is that we must all be aware of our environment ie the place where we live and hand on to the next generation.

Michael Wale ● 5653d

We were totally shocked. We have been walking and boating canals all over the country for many years and have never seen anything on this scale. It looks as if a fleet of refuse trucks have been emptied into the water. The cut is completely choked and I dread  to think what is below the surface. What is strange is that it's not fresh rubbish, it looks as if it's come from landfill.

William Young ● 5653d

Masses of plastic bags and stuff.We hoicked out a whole lot but the helf n safety oiks were muttering about some water-bourne disease so we could only do it out of view.And that didn't make a huge impression o the sheer scale of it. i do hope the waterways guys actually DID something - not just picking up our soggy grey bags.

Sara Nathan ● 5653d

This from the wonderful woman who oragnises the streetwatchers in Ealing;"British Waterways was on site this morning with their 'fountain' machine.  They have already cleared the surface of the area between the Black Horse going towards Perivale"She thinks the funding is being cut and adds"3 of my Streetwatchers have already complained directly to British Waterways at enquiries.hq@britishwaterways.co.uk A letter to your member of Parliament may help?  I know that I will be raising this issue with Steve Pound."Am about to draft a stinker to British waterways.

Sara Nathan ● 5653d

Good news, wouldn't mind seeing this 'fountain machine' in action, maybe I'll pop up there tomorrow. I just had this reply from British Waterways, London Office:Thank you for your email, I am sorry that you have found the waterways in an unsuitable state on your recent visit, we are experiencing an increase in the amount of what is known colloquially as 'turnover'. This is organic matter which has been trapped on the bed of the canal and is released as the water temperature rises. We are unfortunately unable to prevent this, we are currently working to remove the widespread occurrences as part of our litter removal schedule, we are expecting that this will take around 4 weeks to clear and have teams out daily working on this. This section of canal is cleared of refuse every week by our operatives through planned works but this has been increased for the turnover period.

William Young ● 5653d

None of the stuff i saw - well almost none - was organic matter that had risen from anywhere.

Sara Nathan ● 5653d