Artist Stanley Spencer on Clydeside

Stanley Spencer programmme

 

We thought this a very nice programme about Stanley Spencer’s painting projects on Clydeside during World War II – if you think you might enjoy it and can see it from where you are, you’ve got five days!

BBC TV programme about the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project is on the iPlayer now – catch it if you can

BBC Alba TV programme Scottish Coastal Rowing

The BBC Alba TV channel has made a programme about the amazing Scottish Coastal Rowing, in which communities build St Ayles skiffs designed by Iain Oughtred to kits supplied by Alec Jordan, and race them in a series of regattas and events across Scotland and beyond.

My thanks to Osbert Lancaster for the tip – see his weblog Forthsailor.

The growth of the new style of rowing over the past two years has been a phenomenon, with more than 40 of the boats built.

The programme’s available on the BBC iPlayer for the next few days. Catch it if you can!

For many more intheboatshed.net posts about Scottish Coastal Rowing, click here.

Faroese rowers racing on BBC Television

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Faroese rowersFaroese rowers working hard

The past few weeks have been an amazing time for interesting boats on BBC Television – and the latest sighting, racing Faroese rowing boats on an episode in the Coast series, is available on the BBC iPlayer.

I can hardly believe I’ve beaten the usually alert Chris Partridge of Rowing for Pleasure to posting about this, but the programme shows the interesting and elegant boats in action and includes an interview with a group of attractive if powerfully developed Faroese women rowers. It’s noticeable that their English is excellent – and we’re told that they learn the language using the Internet.

Way up north of Scotland, Orkney and even Shetland, the Faroes are remote but these days far from isolated, as the presenter points out.

Like their tall, blonde rowers, the Faroese craft are clearly the result of the Viking era, and even the modern fishing boats in the harbour show a close kinship to Viking ships.

Click here for a photo of a Faroese women’s rowing team taking part in a race.

Click here for a Flickr gallery of Faroese boats.

Click here for still more photos of Faroese boats on the Wikimedia Commons.

800px-Fuglafjordur_fishing_boats,_Faroe_Islands

Modern motorised Faroes boats still show their evolution from Viking ships: taken from the Wikimedia