Thames rowers kick-start Lord Mayor’s Show
More than 6,000 people took part in the Lord Mayor’s Show in London on Saturday, which began with a 20-boat flotilla on the Thames.
The Show was only the second in 154 years to feature a River Pageant, with more than 20 Thames Waterman’s Cutters escorting the Lord Mayor’s shallop from Westminster Boating Base to HMS President.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators then gathered on London’s streets to witness the three-mile parade, celebrating the start of David Wootton’s tenure as the 684th Lord Mayor of London.
Over 1,200 children took part in Saturday’s parade, including the representatives from the Bradford Grammar School rowing team.
The school’s first VIII and an indoor rowing machine featured on a float close to the front of the three-mile long procession, recognising the Bradford-born Lord Mayor’s history as a school and club rower.
More than 40 staff, current pupils and alumni also joined the new Lord Mayor at Mansion House on Friday, where they presented him with a memento of his time as a Bradford Grammar School rower.
The River Pageant and parade also featured representatives of London Youth Rowing – which works in partnership with British Rowing – and The Rowing Foundation.
The two charities have been selected as principle beneficiaries of the new Lord Mayor’s ‘Fit for the Future’ scheme, which encourages young people to stay fit and healthy through sport
