There were a few options for a football game today, but none of the fixtures or grounds were particularly appealing, so Jen and I went for a walk along the Thames instead. We’d picked an idea day for it as the Boat Race was taking place.
I’ve not really got much of an interest in rowing, despite having what I’d consider to be the ideal body shape of short legs and a long torso. I’m not sure I’d appreciate having callouses on my hands though. I dated a girl from Carlton when I was twenty who rowed for a club on the Tees, and it was like being tossed off by a scaffolder. Or so I imagine. Albeit rarely.
The four-mile course runs from Putney to Mortlake and so we took a tube to Richmond, with the plan of walking six miles along the Thames Path before reaching the race route in time to walk the course whilst watching the action and take the total distance up to around ten miles.
The early part of the walk took us around the edge of Kew Gardens on the southside towpath. Unfortunately, there had been some subsidence, and we had to cross the river and follow a detour that took us down Brentford High Street. There were some interesting sections where boats were either moored, being repaired or simply rotting away, but I think that it’s probably one of the less scenic parts of the Thames path.
We reached the Chiswick Bridge finish line around half an hour before the first of the afternoon’s races began. Whilst we’d hardly seen anyone else on the previous six miles, both banks of the river were getting busy. We stopped for what was billed as ‘German Sausage’ but was really just a hot dog. The pubs along the route were packed, but there were also plenty of quiet areas where people had brought a picnic and were able to sit quietly with nobody within fifty yards either side.
I got talking to a bloke who was supporting Oxford. I’m not really sure why he felt the need for an allegiance, as it strikes me as the sort of event that you can just let drift over you without the need for any tension. Maybe he liked a bet.
As we walked towards Putney, the boats went past at twenty-minute intervals. First was the women’s race then each of the reserve crews and finally the men’s boats. Each time Cambridge were well clear of their rivals, spoiling the day of their Chiswick Bridge supporter.
We finished the evening off with a Withered Hand gig upstairs in a pub. It went well, with plenty of early stuff and only the best tracks from the second and third albums. His new songs were well-received as was the support act, Darren Hayman. All in all, a good day.
Tags: Darren Hayman, Scaffolder's hands, Thames path, Withered Hand
Trail of the Lion King 
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