PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; REX FEATURES
“One goat representing
Oxford races another
representing Cambridge
around a farm. Genius”
(^1) Mad March hares,
doing a spot of early
morning boxing.
(^2) On your marks, get set,
rubber duck race!
(^3) Any park worth visiting
is sure to have a lovely
display of daffs.
(^4) Here’s lookin’ at you,
kid: the Oxford versus
Cambridge Goat Race
that: bring a breakfast picnic. Early
morning starts require strong coffee and
possibly a bacon roll wrapped in foil to
follow. Watching all that boxing is enough
to work up an appetite.
RIVER RUNNING
Messing about by a waterway is a great way
to mark the season. Whether on a boat or
from the bank, rivers, lakes and ponds are
at their best in spring, housing frogspawn*,
newly hatched nymphs and other delights,
and hosting races of every kind, too.
There’s the obvious one to watch; Oxford
and Cambridge Boat Race, on 7 April this
year. Or, less obviously, the annual ‘Oxford
v Cambridge Goat Race’, held at London’s
Spitalfields City Farm. One goat
representing Oxford races one representing
Cambridge around the farm. Genius.
For sheer spring jollity, we love a rubber
duck race. The sight of several hundred
yellow duckies being tipped into an
eddying river is sure to buoy the soul.
You’re assigned a numbered duck, for a
charitable donation, they get tipped in and
you all scramble along the bank cheering
them on. Check your local area for listings;
popular spring events include a March
bob-along in Durham, Manchester’s Good
Friday race, and Hebden Bridge’s
on Easter Monday.
Or how about a game of Pooh sticks?
Die-hard fans head to Ashdown Forest in
East Sussex, inspiration for AA Milne’s
Hundred Acre Wood, and play on the very
same bridge Pooh and Piglet used. But any
bridge over a river will do. It’s a brilliant
excuse to combine a bit of light competition
with a gentle stroll along a riverbank,
spottingtheemergingsignsofspring.
- Tempting though it is to fulfil childhood dreams of taking frogspawn home in a jam jar, environmentalists say it’s best not to do
so. Focus instead on making your pond frog-friendly to lure them in naturally. We’re appreciating frogs on page 19. 67
4