Easter Ideas

Love the colours

The Boat Race

by Neil Stevens

Here in London the unofficial start of spring coincides with the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race. This year the race will take place on Saturday April 11. The men will start at 17.50 but - for the first time ever, the women will join!!!  Hurrah and high time !!! They start at 16.50!!

The whole race takes around 16 to 18 min (Cambridge holds the record of 16 min 19 sec). It starts at Putney Bridge (see Blog photo above). Blink at your own peril. Depending on where you stand, you will see them for about 2 min or less and then you have to find a guy with a radio or follow it on your phone. The atmosphere however along the river is very jolly, pubs are full, obviously, and the bridges are bursting, too.

If you like t see a bit more action, come to the Head of the River Race. The women's race will be on the 14th March with an early start at 9.30., the men's race is on 29th March with around 400 crews who row the championship course in reverse, from Mortlake to Putney. If you miss a boat, chances are very high that you will be able to follow a few others ....

The Schools' Head is this year on Monday 16 March, from 13.00. According to the website there are 347 boats!

found on Pinterest

The Fourth Plinth

The Fourth Plinth on Trafalgar Square was originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds.
After over 150 years of debate and a commission of three artworks by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (love that name!) to be displayed temporarily on the plinth in 1998 it was finally decided to keep a rolling program of contemporary artworks.

After last year's very blue ( and arguably french) rooster by Katharina Fritsch, Hans Haacke's Gift Horse will be installed this Thursday.

found here

An electronic ribbon is tied to the front leg, displaying the ticker of the London Stock Exchange. I am intrigued!