Move aside Leicester Square, give it up West End; it’s Ely’s turn to have a starring role in the world of the film premieres. The world premiere of the film “A Strange Day in Queen Adelaide” is being held at the beautiful Ely Cathedral on Saturday 28th February. As well as tracing the development of the local fenland and the tradition of rowing on the Great Ouse at Ely and the community of Queen Adelaide, near Ely, the film showcases the extraordinary events of the 1944 Oxford ~vs~ Cambridge boat race. On February 26th 1944, with the country in the grip of war, the world-famous boat race was held away from the war torn shadows of London on the Great Ouse, between Queen Adelaide and Littleport.
The film goes on to look at events later that year. Just 14 weeks after the Boat Race in June 1944, an explosion caused by a fire on a munitions train devastated the station at Soham just 7 miles away. Such trains with their safety critical loads ran regularly from March to Essex through Queen Adelaide.
60 years later, in 2004, the 1944 boat race was commemorated by staging a rematch which inspired local rowers to form the Isle of Ely rowing club.
Steve and the team at our Ely store are showing the trailer for the film in store and are delighted that this film documents some amazing events in Ely’s past. As the filmmakers put it: Who documents the past will influence the future.
Tickets to the premiere are available from the cathedral box office http://www.elycathedral.org/events/a-strange-day-at-queen-adelaide Proceeds from the event will go to support community rowing in Ely.
