ONE of the biggest public events ever seen in Ely is promised by Diamond44 following the news that a £20,000 grant has been awarded for the rerowing of the 1944 Boat Race in February.
The money from the Heritage Lottery Initiative, managed by the Countryside Agency, means that there will be a full day of celebrations, starting with a reception at St Mary's Lodge and finishing with a post-race dinner and dancing to a big band at Ely Maltings.
The organising community group, founded just over a year ago, had already been promised £1,875 by East Cambridgeshire District Council and £1,000 by Ely City Council to mount a race between veteran crews from Oxford and Cambridge on the Great Ouse at Queen Adelaide.
It was here, in 1944, that the Dark Blues just managed to beat the Light Blues in a unique encounter - the only race between the universities not to have been rowed on the Thames.
Now, exactly 60 years later, Cambridge will be out for revenge and hope to attract a crowd at least as big as the 5,000 who lined the banks for the war-time encounter. Among the spectators, as guests of honour, will be survivors of the original race.
"We're billing it as the curtain-raiser to the 150th Boat Race that will be rowed almost exactly a month later," said Diamond44 secretary Jack Waterfall, pointing out that the first in 1829 came about as a result of a challenge from Charles Merivale at Cambridge to Charles Wordsworth in Oxford.
Merivale rowed at No 4 in the Cambridge boat and went on to become Dean of Ely. He is buried in Ely Cemetery and a wreath will be laid on his grave during February's celebrations.
This will come after a Service of Thanksgiving at Ely Cathedral and before the racing from the Lark to Queen Adelaide bridge during the afternoon. Adding to the 1940s flavour will be the arrival of a train from Bristol pulled by the Battle of Britain steam locomotive Tangmere.
"But the events of the day, important as they are, will not be the end of the story," said Cllr Waterfall.
"The grant means that we can establish a permanent exhibit in the Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum and create a six-mile triangular walk beside the river at Queen Adelaide.
"There are also plans to set up a new rowing club. So this initiative is as important for the future as it is for recognising what was done in the past."
|
