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What are the major landmarks along the Great Ouse?

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    What are the major landmarks along the Great Ouse?

    I have discovered to my horror that this year's Boat Race, the highlight of every OTFer's sporting calendar, will not this year be rowed on the Thames but along the River Great Ouse, in East Anglia somewhere.

    What are the new great landmarks along this stretch we should familiarise ourselves with, as beloved in our national psyche as Fulham Football Ground, Barnes Bridge and the Vomiting Hedge Fund Heir Pubs at Putney and Mortlake?
    Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 17-01-2021, 15:39.

    #2
    Will they still throw their cox in the water or will that be banned on health grounds?

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      #3
      It's a good river, but not especially landmarky to my knowledge.

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        #4
        If they were going through Ely it would be scenic (though it's probably a bit windy and full of boats to be practical). But the route is away from Ely into the Fens. Hardly one of England's most feature heavy landscapes

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          #5
          Erm, well, there’s a fen. And a fen. And, um...

          Looking at the map, it’s along a dead straight section, starting at one bridge and finishing at the very next one a few miles on (basically from Ely to Littleport). So no bridges or curves or anything to break up the monotony. Or to add any tactical dimension. It will essentially be like a bog standard rowing lake race, but just with two boats as opposed to six. And no distance marker buoys along the way.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Janik View Post
            No distance marker buoys along the way.
            That'll make things safe for our fellows who're terrified of such things...

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              #7
              Not to mention what it will do to any Wolff scholars in the boats

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                #8
                Along that bit? Sweet bugger all. They could have at least gone past the sugarbeet factory.

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                  #9
                  Yes, nothing there, except right at the very start train spotters might enjoy the sidings where out of service rolling stock is kept.

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                    #10
                    Why, then?

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                      #11
                      Lockdown/social distancing.

                      The population density of the district is 138/sqkm. London is 5700/sqkm.

                      It's a straight stretch with steep banks, a railway on one side and a rural road on the other, so very easy to police.

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                        #12
                        I guess they want a stretch where "covidiots" can't line the route to cheer on their brave boys. Also Hammersmith Bridge is, to use a structural engineering term, "fucked", and has been closed to traffic both over and under it, and it's not clear if it will have been fixed or will have fallen down by then.

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                          #13
                          Why don't they just cancel this year's race?

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                            #14
                            Why don't we cancel everything?

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                              #15
                              Except this forum.

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                                #16
                                Ach, sorry, didn't mean to snap. This lockdown has me feeling pretty gloomy.

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                                  #17
                                  I wasn't offended in the least.

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                                    #18
                                    I'll still be hoping they both sink

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                                      #19
                                      This is... kind of hilarious? It's certainly made me much more likely to watch it.

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                                        #20
                                        They should have promotion and relegation. When I was at Durham Uni there were lots of rowing types, not all of them cunts.

                                        My boating experience includes two failed kayaking attempts, lots of ferries and watching those naval battles that they have at Peasholm Park in Scarborough when I was a kid on a trip to t'seaside.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by The Mighty Trin View Post
                                          They should have promotion and relegation. When I was at Durham Uni there were lots of rowing types, not all of them cunts.

                                          My boating experience includes two failed kayaking attempts, lots of ferries and watching those naval battles that they have at Peasholm Park in Scarborough when I was a kid on a trip to t'seaside.
                                          Durham and Exeter were the Universities where you got sent to if mummy and daddy wanted you to go to Oxbridge but you were too thick to get in despite your family donation to a library. I worked for a year at Exeter Uni.
                                          Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 19-01-2021, 17:05.

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                                            #22
                                            How "thick" do you have to be to end up at Southampton University then?

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                                              How "thick" do you have to be to end up at Southampton University then?
                                              Well, there's the rub. When I went there my degree was rated 5th on that list they publish, comfortably in a Europa League place and needing 2As and a B to apply. Of course, in my day there were only about 24 teams in the league.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair fan View Post

                                                Durham and Exeter were the Universities where you got sent to if mummy and daddy wanted you to go to Oxbridge but you were too thick to get in despite your family donation to a library. I worked for a year at Exeter Uni.
                                                On my first day I got asked what school I went to. Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield was probably not one of the responses that my questioner was anticipating.

                                                Overall it was a lot of fun though. Plenty of posh people and plenty of not posh people. And Brown Ale for a pound.
                                                Last edited by The Mighty Trin; 19-01-2021, 19:33.

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                                                  #25
                                                  I neglected to watch the drama of the women's race. The men go off in about ten minutes. Joshua Bowesman-Hones is in the Oxford eight. As a young sportsman with a double-barrelled name I expect like English footballers or athletes with similar names that he was brought up in a council flat in Camberwell so I'll be cheering him on.
                                                  Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 04-04-2021, 15:45.

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