Editing Putney (section)

==Rowing and the Boat Race==
[[Image:PutneyBridgeAtNight.jpg|thumb|left|[[Putney Bridge]] at night]]
Since the second half of the 19th century, Putney has been a significant centre for [[sport rowing|rowing]]. There are two reasons for this.

First, increasing numbers of steam-powered boats (not to mention the growing levels of sewage being discharged into the river) made leisure rowing on the Thames in central London unpleasant if not impossible. There was much less commercial traffic on the river at Putney (partly because the many buttresses of the original [[Putney Bridge]] restricted the transit of large river boats) ensuring more suitable water for rowing. The river was also cleaner at Putney.

Secondly, the construction of the [[London and South Western Railway]] from [[London Waterloo station|Waterloo]] to [[Putney railway station|Putney]] and the [[District Railway]] to [[Putney Bridge tube station|Putney Bridge]] allowed easy commuting.
[[Image:Putney Bridge.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Putney Bridge]]]]
More than twenty rowing clubs are based on the [[River Thames]] at Putney Embankment in a landscape which now forms part of a Conservation Area identified by the borough council as "unique in London";<ref>[http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/downloads/download/872/putney_embankment_conservation_area Putney Embankment Conservation Area]. London Borough of Wandsworth</ref> among the largest are [[London Rowing Club]], [[Thames Rowing Club]], [[Imperial College Boat Club]] and [[Vesta Rowing Club]]. [[Leander Club]] owned a boathouse in Putney from 1867 to 1961. The Putney clubs have produced a plethora of Olympic medallists and [[Henley Royal Regatta|Henley]] winners. [[Putney Town Rowing Club]], although retaining Putney's name, has now moved to [[Kew]].

The [[Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race|University Boat Race]], first contested in 1829 in [[Henley-on-Thames]], has had Putney as its starting point since 1845. Since 1856, it has been an annual event, beginning at the [[University Boat Race Stones|University Stone]], just upstream from [[Putney Bridge]].

Several other important rowing races over the [[The Championship Course|Championship Course]] also either start or finish at the stone, notably the [[Head of the River Race]].