Ravenscourt Park - The Dove

Sunday 26th March 2023

Of all the staples of the British sporting calendar; the Open Championship, the FA Cup Final, the Grand National, the Wimbledon Championships, there is no event older than the Boat Race. So on this drab March Sunday afternoon, it felt like there was nowhere better to take Donnie, freshly calling London his home and previously unaware of the Boat Race's existence.

We met outside Ravenscourt Park with the Championship Course and The Dove just a short walk away. Like several of the District Line stations in this corner of West London, the platforms are elevated above the surrounding houses and only half are used with the rest dedicated to letting Piccadilly Line trains pass on by towards Acton Town and Hammersmith. The locals aren't fans of this, however, and have campaigned for over a decade to have the Piccadilly Line stop here too. Perhaps though, Ravenscourt Park's first priority should be a makeover. As you descend down to street level, the cavernous foyer is surrounded by large white walls of peeling paint, with house plants used to try and distract your eyes away.

We ambled riverward taking a subway underneath the Great West Road before eyeballing the sign for The Dove down an alleyway sandwiched by multi-million pound mansions looking out on the Thames as it bends round leafy Barnes. As you enter, immediately in your sight is the bar which is the focal point of a dark cosy lounge as well as a tiny room with only a couple seats to your right. There was no chance of finding a position to get served here. At four feet and two inches by seven feet ten inches it holds the Guinness World Record for being the smallest public bar room anywhere on Earth.

Accepting our position at the main bar, I ordered two pints of Guinness (£13.50) from the barman intrigued by our Scottish accents. I can turn it on when I want to. His family came from Gatehouse of Fleet, which just about excused the fact that the pint was served in a plastic cup. As we turned to explore what else the pub had to offer, my choice of pub was vindicated by a plaque marking this as the 'Best pub to watch the Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race'. On the wooden beam which straddled the roof above hung an old fashioned oar, another contributor to this pub having a regionally significant historic interior as well as a Grade II listing.

My smugness in choice was slightly damaged, however, as we headed towards the pub's river view. A television showing the BBC's live coverage had been rolled into a glass roofed extension just for the occasion, which the nation's academic elite huddled round watching the build-up ahead of the 4pm start. In turn those glued to the screen and the dulcet tones of Claire Balding missed out on the memorabilia clad on the walls of this room, marking The Dove's significance as the place where the poet, and apparent regular, James Thomson wrote the lyrics to Rule Britannia.

Having wriggled our way through to the lower of two terraces, much of which was taken up by an outdoor bar, we found a spot sheltered in the corner below the prime viewing seats above. In the distance was Hammersmith Bridge. Eighty per cent of the time, whichever boat is ahead here will go on to win the race. And so it was as we stood behind jolting heads trying to catch a glimpse of the crews behind the houseboats which line this part of the river, that Cambridge floated by first and went on to win.