Liz Gill finds some great ideas for London days out in this comprehensive guide book
The famous Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race which runs the four mile stretch from Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge draws thousands of spectactors to the banks of the Thames every March .
Most of those spectators though probably do not know that there is a ‘reverse boat race : the Head of the River Race which covers the same distance but in the opposite direction and which can feature up to 400 boats. And that is not the only alternative either. The oldest boat race in the world is the Doggett’s Coat and Badge Wager in August or the Great River Race in September where entries include everything from canoes to Chinese dragon vessels.
I have learned these fascinating facts – and dozens of others – from a new book The London Year – What to Do and When which gives a month by month guide to the sights and sounds of what is arguably the world’s greatest city.
It covers, of course, the all big events like Wimbledon, Chelsea Flower Show, Last Night of the Proms and the Notting Hill Carnival (with useful tips on how to get tickets or the best viewpoints) but a large part of its appeal is the inclusion of lesser known happenings.
So as well as grand ceremonial occasions like Trooping of the Colour or the Lord Mayor’s Show there is the more light hearted or quirky like the Inter Livery Pancake Race at the Guildhall or the Clown’s Service at All Saints in Haggerston where a colourfully garbed congregation gather to remember their hero Grimaldi.
It also offers a wide range of experiences and moods, many of them family friendly. On one page there will be the jolly such as the Covent Garden May Fair and Puppet Festival, on another the Ever After Garden where from mid-November to just before Christmas more than 25,000 illuminated white roses serve both as symbols of remembrance and, by letting visitors chose to dedicate one in memory of a loved one, as a fund-raiser for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
One will tell you the best places to watch the vintage vehicles of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run; another where to buy art work by prisoners and youth offenders.
Entries have information which is both factual – websites are given where appropriate – and entertaining and most have a good photograph as illustration. Each has a colour bar at the top of the page indicating whether that entry is for sport, culture and lifestyle, tradition and history, society or the natural world.
The latter has some wonderful suggestions including seasonal walks to see snowdrops, daffodils, cherry blossom, wisteria, rhododendrons and autumn leaves as well as perhaps unexpected possibities like bird-watching during the October migration. I was rather surprised but absolutely delighted to learn that around 20 per cent of London is public green space.
I also liked the inclusion of unsung, even unfashionable, outer boroughs. Who knew, for instance, that the Battle of Barnet was a decisive encounter in the Wars of the Roses or that Dagenham hosts both an increasingly popular electronic dance music festival and Apple Day activities in an orchard there.
In addition to the date-linked ideas the book also includes lists for music and . cultural festivals and recurring events throughout the year.
The guide is aimed both at London residents who want fresh ideas or visitors – 20 million of them a year – who want to make the most of their trip but I also think it is an enjoyable armchair read in its own right. And, after all, it is our capital – it belongs to all of us.
The London Year by Yolanda Zappaterra and Sarah Guy is published by Frances Lincoln at £14.99.
AboutMyGeneration 