The Boat Race..boats, naughty girls, runaway dogs and daffodils!!

 

Today was the 156th Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.  On race day they expect more than 250 thousand spectators to witness the race from Putney Bridge to Mortlake. I have put a map on here, so you can see what l am talking about. The race starts on the bottom right handside of ther map! We were standing at Barnes Bridge, which is just before the last curve in the Boat Race Course.

Today was the first time that Tony has gone out for a trip in about 4 weeks, so we planned to take it VERY easy.  The walk down to the fist bus stop was down hill, so no problem so far! As we got down to the bottom of the road, there was this double pot hole. Apart from being very dangerous, it is actually quite funny as it looks like a pair of glasses! I really like the reflection of the trees in each of the "lenses".

When we got to the first bus stop, l noticed those wet clothes all over the grass. I wonder if someone has lost their laundry!!!!?..Hope it is nothing more sinister than that, you never know these days!

The image below shows a very cheeky bird, (think it is either a crow or a rook?) that was dancing around us and then decided to clean his wings. You can't see it from this image but these birds are quite large and when in numbers, remind me of the Hitchcock film "Birds"!! 

Eventually when we arrived at Barnes, ( 3 buses later) there were people milling around but there was plenty of space all along the wall, looking down over the river. There were lots of people walking from the Railway Station and all the bus routes, lots of people in Fancy Dress and lots of laughter! A very happy holiday sort of atmosphere!

There are houses and flats all along the river road and from there, they have an amazing view of the Boat Race. Several of the balconies had parties raging on them, the image below is of a fancy Dress party with a pirate theme. I found it interesting, that only the men in the party, seemed to be take part in the challenge! 

As l was walking back from getting a cup of tea, l was able to take the next image, of a man with the Official Boat Race Souvenir Book ......Priced £4! ..he didn't realise l was taking it.

People were queuing up fot the Boat Race from around 12.30ish ( so the guy in the coffee shop told me) and the actual Boat Race doesn't start till 16.30pm! It was not warm, so people had to be either full of alchol, which many where or be dressed up warmly! 

There's dedication to a British sporting occassion for you! The next image actually reminds me of people at the zoo, looking at penguins or polar bears for instance!!!

The man in the image below, has bought loads of flags and things to sell to the gullible people, waiting to see the Boat race..I wish him well! I maybe wrong but he does look as though he has made his face up to look like Ratty from Toad of Toad Hall??? What do you think viewers?

The young people waving the flag in the next image, appeared to be having a good time and a little worse for wear. They were obviously Cambridge supports because their banner read "Oxford Who?"

Do you by any chance know these girls in the image below? If you do, do you think you could ask them to put the street sign back where they found it. No wonder they walked faster when the police went passed! Naughty girls!!

I love the way this bottle of Corona Extra, has a lime in the top..very authentic! The guy inside the costume couldn't see, ( there is a small window made of mesh just below the Corona sign on the bottle) so was being guided by his femail companion. They were laughing and giggling and waved to me for this image!
As you will see from the next two images, the Boat Race was being covered from the waters edge  ( TV camera crew) as well as in the air ( one of 2 helicoptors! ).

The below image is not the Boat Race it's self, these boats and crews are the Isis and Goldie crews..Reserves Teams for Oxford and Cambridge. They always race first and this time I think Cambridge won.

The imager below is the actually Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race and it was won by Cambridge! I am an Oxford supporter so not a happy bunny!

The images below are of the support teams racing after the crews. Then after them come the Lifeboats, the Police lauchs x 2, reporters and camera crews and lastly a London Authority boat.

As you will see from the wash, they are going faster than the normal speed limit allowed on the river. The next image malkes me laugh. The geese were quite happily swimming in the River Thames when the boats came round the corner. The geese took off and seemed as if to race the boats. There was a very loud round of applause from the waiting crowds as the birds flew over head!

The next image is of a dog that got away from its owner and could not be caught for quite a long time.  The problem was, the dog, who appeared to be to be quite young, thought he was being played with, so ran as soon as anyone tried to get his attention. When we left he was still free and causing chaos on the road about and connecting roads.!

The gentleman riding his bike and wearing a leather jacket seemed to be quite happy with his bottle in one hand and steering with the other. Just as l took his image a second time, he clocked me and gave me quite a cross look but didn't challenge me!

After the Boat Race had finished, we made our way slowly to the bus stop. On the way we went pass the pond in Barnes village and watched these two children feeding the ducks. They were so cute and having a whale of a time.... I don't normally take images of children, for obvious reasons but as you can't see their faces, l thought it would be acceptable this time.

The image l am going to end my entry with, is one that made me thinkof the poem, 

Daffodils by William Wordsworth (1804)


I wander'd lonely as a cloud
           That floats on high o'er vales and hills
When all at once l saw a crowd,
          A host, of golden daffodils;