The Championship Course Mortlake to Putney): The Championship Course The stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England is a well-established course for rowing races, most famously the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. It is often referred to as The Championship Course. The course is on the tidal reaches of the river often referred to as the Tideway. In 1845 it was agreed to stage the Boat Race (which had on five previous occasions been contested from Westminster Bridge to Putney) on a course from 'Putney Bridge to Mortlake Church tower'. The aim was to reduce the interference from
Mortlake parish was "now connected with Barnes on one side and with New Richmond on the other". With the advent of motor transport, the buildings on Mortlake's winding high street, also known as the Lower Mortlake Road, have been mostly residential or used by the brewery. In the 1840s Charles James Philips and James Wigan acquired Mortlake Brewery, which had existed since the 15th century. In 1889 the brewery was acquired by James Watney & Co., which in 1898 became Watney Combe & Reid after acquiring Messrs. Combe Delafield and Co. and Messrs. Reid and Co. When Watney's Stag Brewery in