| EVER SINCE fishermen formed the backbone of the Early Church, boats have had a close association with the gospel, from Brendan the Navigator and his legendary voyage to America to Columba’s arrival in Iona.
Ely Cathedral confirmed this link recently, when it commemorated the founding of the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race, which takes place tomorrow for the 154th time.
The race was first rowed in 1829, and sprang from the inspiration of two schoolfriends from Harrow: Charles Merivale, who studied at St John’s, Cambridge, and became the Dean of Ely; and Charles Wordsworth, of Christ Church, Oxford, who was elected Bishop of St Andrew’s, having been Warden of Glenalmond.
Of the nine men in the original Oxford boat, eight were later ordained and two went on to become cathedral deans.
The programme of events in Ely included a re-rowing of the boat race of 1944, which, under the exigencies of war, moved from the Thames to the Ouse. Members of the
Wordsworth and Merivale families gathered, many of whom helped to crew replicas of the original clinker-built gigs, one of which was manhandled into the Cathedral after the race (a Cambridge victory).
A plaque was laid by the Mayor of Ely in the Jubilee Gardens. Evensong was followed by dinner in the Lady Chapel, to celebrate two priests whose friendship had launched such an enduring event.
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