Sport: Putney to Mortlake

In the spring of 1911 Oxford celebrated a great crew victory over Cambridge, setting a course record of 18 min. 29 sec. In 1923 with 40 victories to 34, Oxford still seemed to have an uncatchable lead, in a. century of racing over the muddy 4 ¼ miles on the winding Thames from Putney to Mortlake. But for the last ten years, endless to Oxonians, the motley millions who roar from the banks of the river and from the big brewery windows, the tumultuous holiday crowd of picnickers, cheap-jacks, street musicians and acrobats have...