The prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, founded in 1839, is an annual international rowing event on the River Thames.  Henley on Thames is located just over 40 miles north west of central London, 30 miles from Heathrow and eleven miles from High Wycombe.

Starting at the downstream end of Temple Island, the “Straight Course” covers one mile 550 yards or 2,112 metres, to finish south of the river near Henley on Thames.

Crews row two abreast rather than six with the course marked by two lines of booms.  The two rows are called Bucks and Berks (Buckinghamshire and Berkshire), and should a crew deviate from their allocated side, they can be disqualified.  The regatta is won on a knock-out basis.

The 2010 Henley Regatta will be run over five days from Wednesday 30 June to Sunday 4 July 2010 with competing teams travelling from Canada, France, USA, New Zealand and of course, Great Britain.

Qualifying races will take place on Friday 25th June and then on Saturday 26th June the draw will take place at Henley Town Hall where selected crews’ names for each event will be written on individual pieces of paper and drawn from the Grand Challenge Cup to decide crew positions.

Nearly 170 heats will be held over the Wednesday 30th and Thursday 31st, with the quarter finals on Friday, semi finals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.

Where you view the Royal Henley Regatta can be as important as the partaking, with the Stewards’ Enclosure on the Berkshire side at the finish only open to the Stewards of the Regatta, Members of the Stewards’ Enclosure and their guests; a strict dress code is enforced and use of mobile phones prohibited.

The Regatta Enclosure is next door (away from the finish) where competitors have free access and non members can purchase a Badge (£12-£20 per person in advance).  There is no dress code and the Enclosure has a licensed bar and a choice of food on sale, as well as an unreserved open grandstand.

There are plenty of viewing opportunities along the banks of the Thames to watch the Henley Royal Regatta for free, especially on the Berkshire side along the towpath. The Buckinghamshire side of the River is mainly private homes and corporate tents.

First Great Western will run a special train service from London Paddington to Henley-on-Thames (journey time about 70 minutes) and Twyford during the Regatta.  Car parking is limited but there are designated car parks with prebookable (only) car park labels at a cost of £23 to £28 per day.  The roads are always very busy and the organisers do warn spectators and participants not to underestimate the time it takes by road to reach Henley.

With a history dating back over 100 years, the “24 Heures du Mans 2010”, will commence on Saturday 12th June watched on site by nearly 250,000 racing car enthusiasts and spectators from all over Europe. As the race finished on Sunday 13 June, the event may be tinged with a hint of sadness as this will be the last 24 Hours le Mans race that the current prototypes and GT’s would be able to compete in as new regulation will be put in place in 2011.

This will be the 78th Grand Prix of Endurance at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans which is close to the Loire region of France, just 90 minutes drive from Tours Airport by hire car or about 1 hour 40 minutes by TGV train from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

As the race is run over a 24 hour period, and events actually run all week, many visitors to Le Mans choose to camp.  There are special “on circuit” camping packages and “off circuit” campsites to choose from.  If you are driving your own car (or hiring a car on arrival in France) then the ferry ports of Caen, Le Havre, St Malo and Cherbourg are all about three hours drive away, with Calais about a five hours drive.

The Le Mans 24 hour circuit measures 13.629 km long and is one of the longest racing circuits in the world, but what makes it unique, is that part of the route is a trunk road used by public traffic, with the exception of about 10 days in a year when it is used for competitions and practice races.

So which team will you be rooting for?  The all British team, Beechdean Mansell, with Nigel Mansell, Greg and Leo racing a Ginetta Zytek or one of the French Team Peugeot Total racing 908’s?

If you are in Le Mans for Friday 11 June, make sure you head to the city centre in good time for the 1800-1900 Drivers’ parade, then listen out on Saturday morning if you don’t wake in time, for the 9am warm up. At 10am for 40 minutes is the Race Porsche Carrera Cup (qualifying practice sessions would have taken place on Thursday), followed at 11.05am by the Race GP ELEC. The starting procedure for the 24 Heures du Mans stars at 2.22pm, with the 78th 24 Hours Le Mans starting at 3pm (1500) promptly and finishing at 3pm the following day.

The oldest tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon in south west London, has held the lawn tennis championships since 1877 – the only Grand Slam played on grass courts.  In 2010 The Championships Wimbledon will take place from Monday 21 June with the Ladies’ Final, Men’s Doubles Final and Mixed Doubles Final on Saturday 3 July and the Men’s Final and Ladies’ Doubles Final on Sunday 4 July.

One hundred and twenty eight players will play in the singles events, with 48 pairs in the Mixed Doubles games and 64 pairs in each of the men’s and women’s single sex doubles games.  There are nineteen courts at Wimbledon with Centre Court (capacity 15,000) and No. 1 Court (capacity 11,000) generally only used during the Championships in June and July.

If you entered the ballot for tickets to watch the tennis matches at Wimbledon during the Championships then you would have had to apply for tickets before December 2009, although successful applicants could still be informed by post up until a week before the matches start.

With the exception of the last four days on Centre Court at Wimbledon, about 500 tickets per day are reserved for sale on the day for matches on Courts Number 1 and 2 and Centre Court, with around 6,000 Ground Admission tickets available each day for entry to the Grounds at the Gate 3 turnstiles (cash payment only; one ticket per person).  Many choose to queue overnight and there are facilities for those who choose to “camp”, with the stewards giving an early morning call at about 6am.

For those without show court tickets, at the side of No. 1 Court is Henman Hill or Aorangi Terrace, where the tennis matches are shown live on giant TV screens.  The atmosphere is electric as spectators enjoy their picnics of traditional strawberries and cream and glasses of Pimms!

So who will win?  Will it be a fight between the Williams sisters in the women’s final? Could Rafael Nadal win again?

On Saturday 3rd April at 4.30pm BST, the famous Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race 2010 will commence.

What started in 1829 as the University of Cambridge challenging the University of Oxford to a rowing race, has continued every year since, with the loser challenging the winner to a re-match. Millions will watch this international sporting event, the 156th Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race sponsored by Xchanging on TV (BBC), whilst around a quarter of a million will line the banks of the River Thames for just over four miles between Putney and Mortlake.

The process of picking the “Blue” boat race teams starts with around 40 possible oarsmen and coxes in September from each of the Oxford and Cambridge Universities. By the year end, the numbers have been whittled down to around 28 athletes, each wanting to compete in the Blue boat. A Blue boat team and reserve crew is then picked late February/early March.  Isis is the name given to Oxford’s reserve crew on Race day, with Cambridge’s reserves called Goldie, and they race about half an hour before the Blue race which takes about 17 minutes.

Currently Cambridge has won 79 to 75 races, although Oxford won the Race in 2009.

On Race Day, “The Boat Race in the Park” will be held from noon until 6pm at both Bishop’s Park in Fulham and Funivall Gardens in Hammersmith where you will find big screens, and food and drink stands.  The nearest London Underground tube station to Bishop’s Park is Putney Bridge, and this park is also where there will be family fun including children’s rides, sports activities and face painting. For Furnivall Gardens, the nearest tube is Hammersmith or Ravenscourt Park.

May Bank Holidays 2010 will be on Monday 3rd May, with the Spring Bank Holiday on Monday 31 May.

In the UK, spring should have finally appeared with the countdown to summer well on its way!

What will you do with these two May bank holidays?

Drive across the UK to visit family? Shake out the tent and enjoy a camping holiday weekend? Take a city break in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales? Or maybe take the time to visit one of Britain’s many lovely islands, such as Jersey, the Isle of Man, the Isles of Scilly or the Hebrides? Stay at home and take day trips?

For a traditional bank holiday May Day (1st bank holiday) of Morris Dancing, May Queen crowning, Maypole and other celebrations, head to Cornwall especially the lovely coastal town of St Ives.  For a historic tradition with a difference, on the 31st May watch with thousands of others, as enthusiasts chase after large round pieces of cheese rolled down the exceedingly steep Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire!

Make the most of the UK’s beautiful countries and look at one of the 600 UK holiday parks with the David Bellamy Conservation Award. You will find designated wildlife trails and events, activities for children (check park for details), but best of all, many are peaceful hideaways where efficient use of energy is as important as the surrounding environment.  How about camping at the five star Wicks Farm Holiday Park in Chichester, West Sussex, or staying in a chalet at the Quay West Holiday Park in New Quay, Ceredigion in Wales?  The multi award winning holiday park Bassenthwaite Lakeside Lodges, offers superb timber lodges beside Bassenthwaite Lake in the Lake District, Cumbria and guests can sail, fish, boat or windsurf.

If you want to see a lot of England quickly, you could consider a coach tour. Trafalgar Tours combine London, Bath and Stratford upon Avon in a 7 day tour on various dates in May, and their four day Taste of Britain 2010 coach tour will take you from London to Liverpool, through the Lake District and Gretna Green before a night in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh. Back over the border, the coach then travels to Darlington with a final day, taking a walking tour of York, then a stop in Coventry through the Cotswolds, and finishing in London.